If your taste is for something more gentle, a visit to Ardchattan Priory Gardens is recommended. The Priory is Scotland's second oldest inhabited house and it was here that the last Gaelic speaking Scottish Parliament was held in 1308. Gaelic is still spoken in the Oban area and bi-lingual signs are in evidence to show the importance of preserving the cultural heritage.
Ardchattan is not Oban's oldest surviving building. This honour falls to Dunollie Castle, which according to Scottish records was captured by the Irish brothers Loarn, Fergus and Angus in AD498. Loarn governed the area around Dunollie - which still bears his name (Lorn as it is now known) - and the Scots became firmly established in what is now modern-day Argyll. A tremendous resource on Dunstaffnage Castle, and the history of the Clan Campbell, can also be found at the Clan Campbell Society of North America.
Hand in hand with history, Lorn boasts beauty spots too numerous to mention. Just five miles north of Oban, beneath Connel Bridge (itself a beautiful replica of the more famous Forth Bridge) the racing waters of Loch Etive form rapids at the 'Falls of Lora'. This world renowned spectacle, best viewed at mid-ebb spring tides, is Europe's only seawater falls. |
