[1] Its nature changes considerably along its length, being deep and enclosed by mountains in the north east and shallow surrounded by bog and rough pasture in the south west, from which end the 4 km River Shiel drains to the sea in Loch Moidart near Castle Tioram.

[9] Other bird species living around the loch include white-tailed sea eagles, red-throated divers, peregrine falcons, Eurasian sparrowhawks, common kestrels, ospreys and hen harrier.

[17] Acharacle, at the south of the Loch, is the site of the 1140 battle in which Somerled defeated the Norse to found the ruling dynasty of Lord of the Isles.

In the medieval period the loch formed the boundary between the provinces or lordships of Moidart to the west, Ardgour to the east, and Sunart in the south.

[20] According to early modern tradition, preserved by the seventeenth-century Sleat History, the castle was erected by Áine Nic Ruaidhrí (fl.

[2] 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.

[23] 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 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.

[28] Loch Shiel was the purported secret location of the Black Lake near Hogwarts school in the Harry Potter films.