south. Castle Tioram on the tidal island Eilean Tioram in Loch Moidart, is located so as to control access to Loch Shiel, and thus to Lochaber and the Great Glen, from the sea. The castle appears to have originally been a principal stronghold of Clann Ruaidhrí. According to early modern tradition, preserved by the seventeenth-century Sleat History, the castle was erected by Áine Nic Ruaidhrí (fl. 1318–50), and certainly served as the seat of the latter's Clann Raghnaill descendants for centuries. Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, the poet and Scottish Gaelic tutor of Bonnie Prince Charlie, was born and raised in the area. At the start of the Jacobite rising of 1745, the prince disembarked at Loch nan Uamh and was rowed the length of Loch Shiel in order to raise his standard at Glenfinnan. After the defeat of the rising at Culloden a number of prominent Jacobites, including Cameron of Lochiel, hid on the small island of Eilean Mhic Dhomnuill Dhuibh in Loch Shiel. In 1842, during the Highland Clearances when tenants were cleared off the land to make way for sheep farming, the women of Loch Shiel apparently drove off the eviction party. The women were apparently armed with shearing hooks and aprons filled with stones. Transport Prior to the construction of the A861 road the loch served as a main transport route in the area, linking the communities at the south end of the loch to the West Highland railway line at Glenfinnan. The regular service carrying mail and passengers was operated by David MacBrayne's between 1953 and 1967, ceasing with the construction of the new road between Lochailort and Kinlochmoidart. The West Highland railway line and the A830 road both pass the northern end of the Loch Shiel at Glenfinnan, whilst the A861 road also runs close to the lochside for about 4 km at the southern end. There are no public roads that run the full length of the loch: a forestry track runs along the southern side between Polloch and Glenfinnan, whilst no tracks or paths exist on the northern side. Cruises on the loch are available from Glenfinnan, Acharacle and Polloch. In popular culture Loch Shiel was the purported secret location of the Black Lake near Hogwarts school in the Harry Potter films. The area was the fictional birthplace of Connor and Duncan MacLeod from the Highlander franchise, and served as the actual location