Rahan Castle

Rahan Castle is located in Rahan Near, County Donegal, Ireland, and was built in the mid‑15th century by the McSwynes (Clan Suibhne).

Members of the McSwynes are recorded as arriving from Argyll in Scotland during the 13th or 14th century and serving as foot soldiers and standard‑bearers to the O’Donnells. The family later fought alongside the O’Neills. In the mid‑1400s the McSwynes established the castle as a stronghold on the St John’s Point peninsula.

Ownership changed after the Plantation of Ulster and the wider Scottish and English conquest. King James VI and I granted the property first to William Stuart and subsequently to John Murray, who was created Earl of Annandale in 1625. John Murray died in 1640 and his son James succeeded him. When James died without children, the estate passed to his cousin Robert Creighton, who adopted the Murray name.

Following the outbreak of the 1641 Rebellion, claims on the castle became contested. Legal disputes between the Creightons and Robert Murray continued through the reign of King Charles II and were pursued in courts in England, Scotland and Ireland. A 1659 Irish survey recorded competing claims on Rahan Castle by Sir Robert Murray, Archibald Pearson, John Griggs and James Creighton.

Over time the castle fell out of occupation and into a ruinous state. In 1844 building stones were taken from the ruin and used in construction of the Annunciation parish church at Killybegs. Tenants later paid rent to David Creighton, and the Murray family remained the formal owners until the Irish Land Commission took control of the lands and the castle in the 20th century. The site has also been known historically as McSwyne’s Castle and as Castle Murray.