Dùn an Achaidh
architectural structure in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK
Dùn an Achaidh, sometimes Anglicised as Dun Acha, is a dun located near the village of Acha on the Inner Hebridean island of Coll. It is considered the best preserved dun on the island. The site of Dùn an Achaidh is located at grid reference NM18335456. According to local tradition, the dun was the stronghold of, and named after, the son of a Norse king. The early 20th century antiquary Erskine Beveridge considered it as one of the four most interesting fortifications on Coll (along with Dùn Anlaimh, Dùn Dubh, and Dùn Morbhaidh).
Etymology
Dun an Achaidh takes its name from the Scottish Gaelic An t-Achadh, which translates into English as "the field".
According to the early 20th century antiquary Erskine Beveridge, the dun was known in local tradition by the Scottish Gaelic name, Dun Bhorlum mhic Anlaimh righ Lochlinn (see Lochlann). He gave two translations for this: "the fort of ridge of the son of Olaf, King of Norway"; or "the fort of Borlum, son of Olaf, King of Norway". Beveridge noted that borlum is an old Gaelic word meaning "ridge"; and that this thoroughly described the site of Dùn an Achaidh. According to Rev.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 9, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5320417. Authority coordinates are 56.598, -6.591. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Dùn an Achaidh” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.