Tour Scotland travel video, with Scottish music, of Kisimul Castle, Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal Chiosmuil, also known as Kiessimul Castle, a medieval castle located on a small island off Castlebay, on ancestry, genealogy, family history visit to the Island of Barra, in the Outer Hebrides. It gets its name from the Gaelic ciosamul meaning "castle island. " Kisimul was the seat of the chief of the Macneils of Barra. According to tradition, the first Macneils came to Barra in the 11th century, but the first historical record of a clan chief here comes from 1427, when Gilleonan Macneil was granted the island by Lord Alexander MacDonald, Lord of the Isles. It was probably he who built Kisimul on the rocky island, with a small crew house beside the castle for his personal crew and galley. The Macneils retained Barra until 1838 when they were forced to sell the lordship to repay heavy debts. In 1937 a descendant of the Macneils of Barra, Robert Lister Macneil, the 45th Chief, purchased the estates once more and set to work restoring the castle. Most of the castle dates to the 15th century. It is built as a three storey tower house surrounded by a curtain wall. Within the wall is a courtyard enclosing secondary buildings including a chapel, feasting hall, watchman's house, and heir's house.
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