Clan Sutherland and Dunrobin Castle

The present Chief, Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland, hosts an annual meeting at Dunrobin Castle for clansmen from around the globe and a Clan Room has been set aside as a repository for the history of the clan.

Dunrobin Castle in Scotland

The area of Dunrobin goes way back to Freskin de Moravia, a Norman who helped both David I and William the Lion regain control of the Nothern Highlands. Earl Robin was the founder of this castle in 1275, which looked very different than the Dunrobin Castle we know today. Although it has transformed from that time, the castle still holds his name Dun in Gaelic meaning Fort, and Robin, being his name.

The 5th Earl ended up marrying Princess Margaret, daughter of Robert the Bruce. The Wolf of Badenoch lived here as well. A wildly brutal man who is known for terrorizing many of the Highland lands.

The 2nd Duke of Sutherland inherited the castle in 1841, who then had 8 children. This gave way to the massive expansion of the castle. Most of the French Chateau styling came from 1845 by Charles Barry, who was a master of the Gothic Revival style. Charles Barry’s success at this castle is what influenced the men who built the tower of London to be what it is today. When Dunrobin castle was finished it was three times larger than it had been 6 years earlier.

The Castle was used as a Naval Hospital during World War I, and a boarding school from 1965 to 1972. It overlooks the beautiful Moray of Firth with a path leading directly to its shores.

It is the most Northerly of Scotland’s castles and the largest in the Northern Highlands with 189 rooms and has been continuously inhabited since the 1300’s. Home to the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland. Visitors are allowed to take a self-guided tour through some of the 20 rooms in one of the most extravagant residences in the Northern Highlands.