The castle stands on a crag at the end of the peninsula jutting out into the Sound of Mull at the intersection of the sound of Mull, Loch Linne and the Firth of Lorne and within view of the neighboring castles of Dunstaffnage, Dunollie, Aros and Ardtornish, part of a chain of castles up the Sound of Mull to Mingary Castle. Duart was originally a rectangular wall enclosing a courtyard. In 1350 Lachlan Lubanach, the 5th Chief, married Mary Macdonald, the daughter of the Lord of the Isles and she was given Duart as her dowry.
In 1691 the Macleans surrendered Duart and all their lands on Mull to the Duke of Argyll. The Castle, although in a fairly ruinous condition was used as a garrison for Government troops until 1751. It was then abandoned until 1910 when it was purchased by Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 26th Chief. He then set about the enormous task of restoring the building.
