Located on the River Add in the Kilmartin valley, Dunadd has a history almost as colorful as Scotland herself. The outcrop is exceptionally located and easily defensible. Slightly to the northwest is where the River Add comes together with the river that runs through the Kilmartin plain and by Kilmichael with it’s Parish Church and Glassary. Directly west the river runs to the sea. To the east the river is marked by standing stones and cup and ring marked stones until it terminates by Creagh Dhubh, the location of a former hillfort that overlooked the flood plain of the Add. In the six mile radius around Kilmartin, Argyll there are 350 ancient monuments including Dunadd.

But that is today.


Before the coming of the Vikings that ultimately destroyed the royal families of this place, before the coming of the Christian monks and the battles between the Picts and the Scoti, Dunadd was a hillfort. There is no way to accurately date the stone carvings that cover the summit and surrounding lands, but there was a fort here. Built simply sometime in the Third or Forth century AD it was believed to be the home of the Epidii Picts. The Epidii were the clan that inhabited the lands of the Kilmartin Valley until approximately 497, when Fergus Mor arrived from Ireland.

Fergus Mor was descended from Irish royalty, and arrived in Argyll with his sons. Historians believe the Picts would have ignored his arrival, for their group was small and they spoke Irish Gaelic instead of the native tongue. Shortly after his arrival, the Epidii disappear from history and it can only be believed that they were run off or killed off.

Fergus was the first of the Dal Riada, the people that would inherit Alba from the Picts through marriage, war and treachery. They made Dunadd the throne of the kingdom and crowned their kings upon its summit. The famed Stone of Destiny was held here for a time and upon it those who wished to be king learned their fate. It become a major shipping, trade and craft center. They also kept in contact with Ireland, which was only 12 miles from the Mull of Kintyre.

Excavations in 1904, 1928 and more extensively in 1980 uncovered a vast amount of wealth that proved the Dal Riada had extensive trade routes. There are samples of metal, glass, stone, clay and pottery artifacts from the European mainland, Ireland and the Mediterranean. A large metalworking shop was unearthed, which turned up gold, silver, copper alloys, lead, iron, wood and stone. Mold fragments were found that showed they were producing fine jewelry, including paneled annular brooches like the famed Tara brooch. In fact, enough molds and jewelry artifacts were uncovered to develop a timeline for dating pennacular brooches, including some with clear Anglo-Saxon influence. Other items found in the shop included a gold and garnet stud , glass beads, a cache of querns and gold and glass tessera from the Mediterranean.

In the sixth century came the time of St. Columba, who became established at Iona. There is archaelogical and written evidence that he was in contact with Dunadd. Its believed that King Conall is the one who most encouraged St. Columba to convert the Picts to Christianity, though his motive was to undermine their culture.

Dunadd was held briefly by the Picts in 731 or 741, depending on which history you may be reading. This is when King Oengus Mac Fergusa captured it and used it as his base. Unfortunately they proved too ambitious and the Picti force was spread thin by two attacks on Strathclyde, one by Oengus’s brother Talorgen in 750 and the other by Oengus himself in 756.

While the Picts and Scoti fought side by side against the Romans, they were unable to work together to defeat the Vikings that invaded their shores. The most devastating battle against the Scandinavians occurred in 839 at Fortrue, where may of the royal households were killed. At this time Alpin appointed himself king. At his death in 841 Kenneth Mac Alpin succeeded.

By 849 the last of the Pictish lords were dead, many by Kenneth. In the century following the sons of Dal Riada were able to spread their nation from Dunadd across to Strathclyde and Lothian, effectively creating what is now known as Scotland.

When one ascends Dunadd today, the lives of those ancient peoples resonate. The cleft in the rock once used as a gate looks out over national nature preserves. You can still put your foot in the carving where kings once trod, trace the ogham carvings and sip water from the cistern carved nearby.