The Chapel occupies the site of the ancient Drimnin Castle, on a rocky knoll overlooking the Sound of Mull, the Atlantic Ocean and Tobermory.  These lands were once those of the Macleans of Drimnin who lost control of their property after supporting the Jacobite uprising.  Having passed through the hands of several short-term owners it was purchased in 1835 by Sir Charles Gordon, a wealthy Edinburgh lawyer.

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The Gordons were Catholics in an almost exclusively Protestant area.  Not surprisingly the local population was disapproving when Sir Charles demolished the castle and replaced it with a Catholic chapel in 1838, reusing much of the stone from the castle.

Local hostility was exacerbated by the appointment of a full-time priest, who lived in the newly constructed Hermitage close to the Chapel, and by making the Chapel the centre of worship for Catholics from Mull and Ardnamurchan who came by boat to the nearby jetty.

After the untimely death of Sir Charles in 1845, use of the Chapel gradually diminished until it finally fell into disuse and disrepair, being replaced by a chapel within Drimnin House.  It was there that Saint Mary McKillop, Australia's first saint whose parents came from Roy Bridge near Fort William, took Mass on her visit to the UK in the late 19th century.  Following the sale of the Estate by the Gordon family in 1943, the Chapel deteriorated and lost its roof, but was given a Grade B listing to protect its historical and scenic importance.

Attempts to secure planning consent for conversion to a house were denied in the 1990s, leaving the Chapel to deteriorate further despite efforts by the Highland Council to facilitate a rescue plan.

Soon after the Millennium plans were developed to restore the Chapel to its original condition, initially as a centre for music and the arts, through the creation of a new charity - St Columba's Drimnin Trust.

Architect's drawings from 1838 show the form of the chapel as it is today - a simple rectangular chancel facing north with a bell tower at the south end.  The exterior is harled in lime, with sandstone facings and a roof of Easdale slates.  The interior was plastered on laths, with a barrel vaulted ceiling, richly decorated on a blue background. Steep stairs at the rear led to a small balcony and a vestry in the tower - the only part of the Chapel to have any heating.

The Chapel has been restored as far as possible to its original form, with the addition of lighting, power and air-source heating.  Work commenced in 2008 and was completed in 2012, when it was rededicated in the presence of HRH The Earl of Wessex.