Description: Skye's turbulent history can be in many periods equated with the history of clans that populated and ruled different parts of the island. The Sleat peninsula, the southern ''finger'' of Skye extending west along the Sound of Sleat opposite Knoydart and Morar areas of the mainland, has for time immemorial been associated with Clan Donald, or McDonalds.
The origins of the clan are, as often is the case, somewhat blurry in the abyss of time, but there are certainly links to both the Irish and the Norse and by the time the Lordship of the Isles was established in .
Clan Donald visitors' centre in Armadale is one of Skye's chief attractions of non-wilderness type and comprises of what's officially called the Museum of the Isles as well as a ruined castle, both situated on the outskirts of the Armadale village in an extensive area of parkland, and surrounded by more countryside belonging to Clan Donald Estate. There is also a restaurant in the whole complex, located near the car park and outside the park with the castle and the museum.
Entrance fees to the Centre for visitors are, in my opinion, very high at around £7 per adult. Luckily, locals (this is quite broadly understood and your reporter, living on the mainland 20 miles away, qualifies without problem) only pay 50 pence. I think this is an admirable arrangement, taking advantage of tour buses full of American tourists keen to get in touch with their more or less hypothetical roots, while allowing the local residents to use the rather wonderful grounds that surround the centre.
The best part of the Visitor Centre is, for anybody but a serious history or Clan Donald buff, the magnificent park that surrounds the new purpose built museum and the ruins of the 19th century palace.
Sleat Peninsula is generally fairly lush and even officially bears the moniker of ''The Garden of Skye'', but generally the vegetation on Skye, typical of northern, windy and wet climatic conditions, can appear a little harsh after a while.
The parkland around Clan Donald centre provides significant more variety and feels strangely ''civilised'' after the surrounding wilderness. There is plenty of trees, streams and ponds, bridges and lawns, terraces and flower beds. Many trees are great for climbing, and there is also a good purpose-built adventure playground made of logs, with swings, slides, trim trial and a fantastic climbing frame, as well as some simple huge felled logs to climb and walk on.
Between the trees of the park, views extend south to the mainland, with the magnificent mountains of Knoydart, the most isolated and remote part of the mainland Britain, rising across the water.
The same view can be admired from the large lawn that stretches in front of the picturesquely ruined 19th century Armadale castle, covered in red creeper and with some benches in the front to sit on: a good place if you bring a picnic.
The Museum of the Isles itself is a reasonably interesting little place that, for a casual visitor, makes quite a good use its collection and location.
The museum centres on a large, circular room filled with a circle of standing stones, where atmospheric Celtic music is playing and a series of lit-up panels presents the semi-mythical origins and the history of the Clan Donald, MacDonalds and their kingdom in the times they were the Lords of the Isles, the Lords of the Gaeldom.
There is also poetry trail and five other galleries with various artefacts which document the more recent years in the MacDonald saga, from the dissolution of the Lordship of the Isles, the Jacobite period, the persecution of the post-Culloden period, to Agricultural and Industrial revolutions which saw the destruction of the Highland way of life and the transformation of the clan system into a typical feudal hierarchy in which, according to the Museum's own description, "clansmen became crofters and chiefs became landlords".
Close