It was built by the powerful Coymn family around 1280 but only occupied by them until 1308. Thereafter the castle appears to have been abandoned and in use only sporadically, for example, by the Gordon Earls of Huntly who were granted it in 1506.

The castle served as the centre of a Lordship and was designed to provide impressive public and private chambers.

It was constructed on an open and relatively flat site allowing one side to be protected by the River Lochy itself and the other three by a moat fed by the river. In addition to the accommodation within the towers, the quadrangular courtyard would have had a range of timber buildings including a great hall, kitchens, a bake house, brew house and stables, and it would have bustled with people.

Inverlochy Castle was provided with formidable defences in a style similar to contemporary English Castles. The high walls were designed to make attack and scaling difficult and the slope (or batter) lessened the impact of a battering ram and deterred mining. As well as providing greater wall thickness, the angle of the wall kept the assailants ladders away from it and so more exposed to missiles fired from above. The garrison of the castle had access to the wall-walks via stairs winding up within the towers. At the top parapets on both sides protect the wall-walks.

The following picture were taken of the castle in May 2002.......

	East wall looking South		North East Tower and entrance from riverside.
	Riverside gateway on the North Wall.		Entrance to North West Tower from inside the tower, 5ft high.
	North West Tower from inside the courtyard.		North West Tower from outside the castle.
	Landside gateway on the South Wall.		Landside gateway on the South Wall.
	South West Tower.		South West Tower and Landside gateway on the South Wall.
	South West Tower and West wall.		West wall
	West wall looking South with Ben Nevis in the background.		West wall looking South with Ben Nevis in the background.