Fortress of shadows
In Gaelic legend the rock where Scathach trained Cu Chulainn; in history the seat of the MacDonalds of Sleat.
Tom Parnell — CC BY-SA 4.0 · PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) — CC BY-SA 4.0 · PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) — CC BY-SA 4.0 · PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) — CC BY-SA 4.0
In Gaelic legend this is the rock where the Irish hero Cu Chulainn learned to fight, taught by the warrior-woman Scathach, and the place still carries her name: Dun Scaith, the fortress of shadows. In recorded history the sea rock at Tokavaig, in the south of Skye, was the seat of the MacDonalds of Sleat from the 14th century, changed hands with the MacLeods and their MacAskill allies during the clan wars, and was abandoned in 1618, when the chief moved north to Duntulm. Do not expect a castle. What survives is a few stretches of curtain wall on the cliff edge, the remains of a stair, a well in the courtyard, and the two parallel walls of a stone bridge that once crossed a gap of roughly six metres to the shore, ending in a drawbridge whose pivot holes are still visible. There is no deck any more: getting across means edging along a narrow ledge at the foot of one wall above a drop of about twelve metres. Do not try it, least of all with children. The view from the shore is the real reward, and the site is a scheduled monument, so leave the stones alone. That reward is the setting: Loch Eishort opens in front of you with the jagged Black Cuillin behind, and the light is at its best in the evening when the sun drops towards the water. From Broadford it is about fifty minutes on the twisting single-track Ord road (roughly an hour and a quarter from Portree). Parking is a roadside verge with space for four or five cars where a farm track heads for the shore; from there it is a fifteen-minute walk over wet grass and uneven ground past a ruined farmhouse, with no real path for the last stretch. Waterproof footwear is essential and a pushchair is hopeless. There are no facilities, toilets or information boards, and access is free at any hour. Treat it as one stop on a Sleat day: the sandy beach at Ord is minutes away by car, and Armadale, with its gardens and the Mallaig ferry pier, is about twenty-five minutes. In summer bring insect repellent, since the midges are thick at dusk in July and August; in winter remember the light goes before four and the road and grass can be slippery.
In Gaelic legend the rock where Scathach trained Cu Chulainn; in history the seat of the MacDonalds of Sleat.
Loch Eishort with the Black Cuillin behind it, finest in evening light.
Two parallel walls over a six-metre gap, with the drawbridge pivot holes still visible in the stone.
Tokavaig, Sleat peninsula, Isle of Skye IV46 (grid ref NG 595 120)
No. With a single day, spend it on the Trotternish peninsula (Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock). Dunscaith earns its place only if you are staying in the south, arriving by the Armadale ferry and giving Sleat a couple of hours with Ord beach, or if you prefer quiet ruins and views to the famous stops.
The short walk is fine for children who can walk, but the ground is wet and uneven and no good for pushchairs. The rock itself is effectively off limits: the crossing is a narrow ledge above a twelve-metre drop, so keep everyone on the shore and hold small hands near the edge.