It was briefly taken in 1647 during the War of the Three Kingdoms by General David Leslie. In the next decade, it was torched by Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army. The fire likely caused the demise of a number of manuscripts that had been conveyed to the castle for safety from Iona after the 1561 Act calling for the destruction of "Monuments of Idolatry". In 1679, it stood against the Campbells, but did not stand when attacked again in 1692.