Friends of Argyll Estates Archives

15/06/2026

Join us for a trad music sessiThe HUB Argyll Caravan Parkark on Thurs 18 June 14:00-17:00

10/06/2026

Jamie MacGregor is the Heritage Engagement and Access Officer at Dunollie Museum, Castle and Grounds, a role he has held for the past five years. He leads a team of volunteers and works across public engagement, learning, exhibitions, and access, with a strong focus on the sites history. Since joining Dunollie, he has become deeply engaged with the history of the site and the MacDougalls of Lorn, sharing that passion through delivering guided tours, while also training new guides and contributing to the development of exhibitions and interpretation. His work centres on making history accessible, engaging, and meaningful for a wide range of audiences.

Jamie is uniquely placed to offer an overview of the history and cultural significance of the Brooch of Lorn. He will be the first of our four expert speakers at the Brooch of Lorn Study Day on Saturday 27 June!

Book your place here: https://argyllestatesarchives.org/product/brooch-of-lorn-study-day-ticket/

09/06/2026

09/06/2026

A different erratic rock but no chap this time. Location?

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

The Brooch of Lorn study day will be chaired in Gaelic and English by Àdhamh Ó Broin. Àdhamh is a Gael of mixed Irish and Scottish Highland ancestry, brought up between mainland Argyll and Glasgow and has been involved in arts and heritage his entire adult life as a Gaelic Consultant, Film Producer, Writer, MC and Multi-Instrumentalist Composer. He is a passionate Gaelic speaker, singer and tradition bearer.
As Gaelic Culture Officer, Àdhamh is responsible for the strategic development of Gaelic cultural services for Argyll and Bute. This includes designing and supporting projects and award schemes and promoting the CHARTS network among Gaelic arts, heritage, and cultural communities. This role is designed to meet key cultural objectives aligned with the Argyll and Bute Gaelic Language Plan and the National Language Plan.
This role is supported by Argyll and Bute Council.

Book your place for the Brooch of Lorn study day at https://argyllestatesarchives.org/shop

05/06/2026

Catherine Gillies will be speaking about ‘The comparison of the three turreted brooches, the silver analysis and theories about the making of the brooches’ at the Brooch of Lorn study day. Catherine trained as an art historian with a particular focus on buildings and material culture, before diverting to a career as a journalist for press and BBC Radio for many years. A chance meeting with the noted social history collector Hope MacDougall in Oban reignited her passion for material culture and led to a 30 year association with the MacDougalls of Dunollie and their collections. She became a Trustee then project director of the Hope MacDougall Collection, and began to advise the Dunollie Preservation Trust, working initially on the Brooch of Lorn before expanding focus to the whole private collection. She was tasked with leading the opening of Dunollie Museum, castle and grounds to the public in 2011. She has also worked extensively as a heritage consultant specialising in independent museums and heritage sites throughout Scotland. She founded the Scottish Community Heritage Alliance in 2020. She retired from formal consultancy late last year, focussing instead on passion heritage projects and a squad of small grandchildren.

Book your place for the Brooch of Lorn study day at https://argyllestatesarchives.org/shop

04/06/2026

Dr Sarah Laurenson is Principal Curator of Modern and Contemporary History at National Museums Scotland. Sarah is a material culture historian of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with particular expertise in historical development of craft skill among Scotland’s jewellers and goldsmiths. Her recent book, The Material Landscapes of Scotland’s Jewellery Craft, 1780-1914 was published by Bloomsbury in 2023 and shortlisted for History Book of the Year at Scotland’s National Book Awards in the same year. Sarah is representing research on the brooch of Lorn, including scientific analysis of its construction, on behalf of several colleagues at National Museums Scotland.
Book your place for the Brooch of Lorn study day at https://argyllestatesarchives.org/shop

03/06/2026

Last chance this week to see the Archaeology finds in the museum as they are only being displayed until Tuesday 9 June 2026. Your history, your heritage your accredited museum. A gem in the heart of the island.

03/06/2026

Niall Diarmid Campbell, 10th duke of Argyll (1872-1949) was a profound scholar of West Highland history. One of his legacies is a globally significant collection of transcripts, meticulously written out in his minuscule hand. In this transcript of a rental from 1690, Duke Niall has taken the unusual step of exactly reproducing the signatures at the foot of the document 📜✍🏻🤓

(Image: ARG/11/02/014, Transcripts of Inveraray & Rosneath rentals of 1690 and 1706)