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MHG4875 - Broch or dun - Dun Diarmaid, Skye

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NG33NE 2 3545 3816.

(NG 3545 3816) Dun Diarmaid (NR)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)

Dun Diarmaid, the stones of which have been nearly all removed, crowns a rocky knoll above Loch Beag. It is of small size, oval on plan, measuring internally c. 29' E-W x 25' N-S. The foundation stones on the outside of the W arc remain in position, and the corresponding stones on the inside of the SE curve. The entrance lies on the S, and is quite destroyed, but the wall on the W side of this shows enough building in position to indicate a wall thickness of 11'3". Apparently it has been of less strength at other parts. The summit of the rock is very irregular, for on the W side it stands some 5' higher than the tumbled material in the interior of the dun.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 1915.

Dun Diarmaid is probably a broch. The outer and inner wall faces survive intermittently in the N, W, and S giving an internal diameter N-S of 8.0m with the wall 3.1m thick in the N and 3.5m in the S. In the E, the wall has incorporated outcrop rock and the outer part has completely disappeared though the inner face may be partly in situ under turf-covered debris. The entrance is in the W, but has tumbled and its footings are obscured by debris; here the wall is 3.6m thick. No intra-mural features are visible.
Visited by OS (A A) 5 November 1971.

NG33 4 DUN DIARMAID
NG/3545 3816
The remains of a possible broch or dun [3] stand on an irregular rocky knoll in Bracadale, Skye. The building has been oval and the entrance has been on the west-south-west [4] but is destroyed; however enough remains to indicate a length of 3.43m (11 ft 3in); another source says 3.7m [4]. A more recent account says that the outer and inner wallfaces survive in places [1]. On the south side the wall is only about 2.2m [4], somewhat thin for a broch. On the other hand a scarcement about 45cm wide has been observed on the inner wallface on the south side, at about 3 o'clock [4, plan].
Dimensions: the internal diameter is 8.85m (29 ft) east-west and 7.63m (25 ft) north-south [2]. Swanson gives the north-south measurement as 8m below scarcement level [4].
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NG 33 NE 2: 2. RCAHMS 1928, 145, no. 485: 3. MacSween 1984-85, 44, no. 23: 4. Swanson 1985 (ms), 886 and plan. <1>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 3545 3817 (24m by 24m)
Map sheet	NG33NE
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	BRACADALE

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