The country of the Munros lies on the north side of the Cromarty Firth. Known as Ferindonald, from the Gaelic "Fearainn Domhnuill", or "Donald's Land", a reference to the traditional founder of the chiefly family, these lands comprised most of the adjoining parishes of Kiltearn and Alness. The clan occupied the fertile coastal strip alongside the firth, and they spread up the river valleys into the uplands around Ben Wyvis. Beyond the bounds of Ferindonald, the Lairds of Foulis had, by the fourteenth century, acquired lands on the west coast in Loch Broom and northwards in the border between Ross and Sutherland.

Donald, ancestor of the Munros of Foulis is said to have received his lands in Ross-shire as a reward for helping Malcolm II against invaders from Scandinavia. Members of the family are also said to have fallen in the Scots armies at Bannockburn in 1314 and at Halidon Hill. The first chief authenticated by record evidence was killed in defence of the Earl of Ross in 1369. When James I came to Inverness to assert his authority in 1428, he seized many leading Highlanders, and while some were executed or imprisoned, others, including a group of Munros, were pardoned for past offences. The clan does not seem to have been unduly combative, but two minor skirmishes are recorded, although not firmly dated. In one against the Mackenzies at Bealach nam Broid at the back of Ben Wyvis, the chief and many of his family were killed. In the other at Clachnaharry near Inverness, a younger son of the then chief lost his hand fighting against the Mackintoshes.

The chiefs also held public office under the Stewart monarchs, and Sir William Munro was killed in 1505 on the king's business in Wester Ross; his son was the royal lieutenant there ten years later. In 1547 the chief was slain at the Battle of Pinkie with many of his men, resisting an English invasion. Early in her short reign, Mary, Queen of Scots, visited Inverness during her northern progress, and when the castle gates were shut against her by the constable, who was a Gordon, the Munros gave her loyal support. She later spent some time hunting in the neighbourhood. During her son's long minority, Munro of Milntown, and then his chief, Robert Mor Munro, had charge of the Crown lands of Ross and the Black Isle. Munro, as baron of Scotland, had attended the Reformation Parliament of 1560, and his son, Hector, was Dean of Ross in the reformed church before succeeding as chief in 1588.

Jame VI and his advisors were determined to bring the Borders and the Highlands more fully under Crown control, and here they looked to the clan chiefs as their principal instrument. The Laird of Foulis figures in a roll of Highland landlords attached to an Act of Parliament in 1587, and three years later Hector Munro was one of those required to find security for the good behaviour of his tenants and adherents, even those living on other men's lands.

When more peacful times came, military service abroad had its attractions, and many Munros fought under Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in the Thirty Years' War in Germany. Two successive chiefs, Baronet of Nova Scotia.

General Robert Munro commanded the army sent by the Scottish Parliament to Ireland in 1642. A long minority in the chiefship from 1635 to 1651 coincided with the period of civil war. Sir Robert Munro was sheriff of Ross under the Commonwealth and Prtectorate, and had his lands raided and his tenants abused, while his brother, George, later commanded the king's forces in Scotland from 1674 to 1677. The Revolution of 1688, which brought William and Mary to the throne of the deposed James VII, was supported by Sir John Munro of Foulis, a devout presbyterian. Dr. Alexander Munro of the Fyrish branch refused to abandon his allgiance to the Stuart monarchy, and as a consequence lost his offices as principal of Edinburgh University, minister of the High Kirk of St. Giles, and Bishop-elect of Argyll. The clan, however, followed their chief, and thoughout the period of Jacobite unrest from 1689 to 1746, supported the Government.

Events during the Forty-Five had left Foulis Castle a semi-ruin, and the chief, Harry Munro set about a programme of rebuilding after the rising. However, the castle and grounds were again to fall into neglect, but when Sir Hector Munro inherited the estate in 1884 he once more made it a family home. The castle is mentioned in documents from as early as 1491. Sir Hector's grandson, Captain Patrick Munro of Foulis, completed a programme of restoration begun in 1955, and Foulis now stands much as it did when it took its present form over two centuries ago. The present chief is Captain Patrick's son.