Ayrshire is a historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety of the historic county as well as the island of Arran, formerly part of the historic county of Buteshire. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire to the north-east, Dumfriesshire to the south-east, and Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire to the south. Like many other counties of Scotland, it currently has no administrative function, instead being sub-divided into the council areas of East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. It has a population of approximately 366,800.
East Ayrshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Road, Kilmarnock. With South Ayrshire and the mainland areas of North Ayrshire, it formed the former county of Ayrshire.
South Ayrshire is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. The area had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,450.
Girvan is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies 21 miles (34 km) south of Ayr, and 29 miles (47 km) north of Stranraer, the main ferry port from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
Cumnock is a town and former civil parish located in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The town sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water. There are three neighbouring housing projects which lie just outside the town boundaries, Craigens, Logan and Netherthird, with the former ironworks settlement of Lugar also just outside the town, contributing to a population of around 13,000 in the immediate locale. A new housing development, Knockroon, was granted planning permission on 9 December 2009 by East Ayrshire Council.
Culzean Castle is a castle overlooking the Firth of Clyde, near Maybole, Carrick, in South Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of Clan Kennedy, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The clifftop castle lies within the Culzean Castle Country Park and is opened to the public. From 1972 until 2015, an illustration of the castle was featured on the reverse side of five pound notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Clan Kennedy is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.
Maybole is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of 4,580 in 2020. It is situated 9 miles (14 km) south of Ayr and 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is bypassed by the A77.
Grange Academy is a non-denominational secondary school based in Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It serves the Bonnyton and town centre areas of the town, with the associated primaries being Crosshouse Primary, Annanhill Primary, Hillhead Primary, Gargieston Primary and Shortlees Primary.
Patna is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, straddling the traditional districts of Carrick and Kyle.
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, covering parts of the council areas of South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. Also, it is one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Belmont Academy is the largest secondary school in Ayr. The Academy is non-denominational and state-run by South Ayrshire Council. In 2008 the school transferred from the 48-year-old campus into a new building, which was opened to pupils in August 2008.
Queen Margaret Academy is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the south of Ayr in southwest Scotland. Established in 1856 as St. Margaret's School, Queen Margaret Academy was formed in 1966 and became a state-run school overseen by South Ayrshire Council. Queen Margaret Academy takes Catholic children aged 11 to 18 from the whole of South Ayrshire and parts of East Ayrshire.
Saint Josephs' Academy is a Roman Catholic secondary school in New Farm Loch, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland. Whilst the school is located in Kilmarnock, it serves however the entire Catholic secondary school aged population in East Ayrshire, with the school being the only Roman Catholic secondary school within East Ayrshire. A long-standing inter-authority arrangement sees a small number of primary seven pupils attending St. Xavier’s Primary School in Patna transition to Queen Margaret Academy located in Ayr, South Ayrshire instead of Saint Josephs' Academy.
Ayr Academy is a non-denominational secondary school situated within the Craigie Estate area at University Avenue in Ayr, South Ayrshire. It is a comprehensive school for children of ages 11–18 from Ayr. Ayr Academy's catchment area covers Newton-on-Ayr, Whitletts and the outlying villages of Coylton, Annbank, and Mossblown.
Maybole Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It arose from a Maybole prayer group started in 1898 that was admitted to the Baptist Union of Scotland in 1901. The church building opened in 1914. It has operated for over a hundred years, one of 164 active Baptist churches in Scotland in the early twenty-first century serving 14,000 members.
Minishant is a village bordering the A77 in the old county of Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located in Maybole Parish, 3+1⁄2 miles from Maybole and standing close to the River Doon. The village was originally named Culroy after the Culroy Burn that runs through it.
The Robert Burns Academy is a secondary school located in Cumnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, which opened to pupils in October 2020 following the merger of Cumnock Academy and Auchinleck Academy. The current Head Teacher, Peter Gilchrist, also acts as the Head of Barony Campus, meaning he has the responsibility of leading the whole Barony Campus which consists of Robert Burns Academy, Lochnorris Primary School, Cherry Trees Early Childhood Centre and Hillside School.
Maybole Castle is a 16th-century castle located on High Street in Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Originally built for the Earls of Cassillis, it is an L-shaped construction with Victorian two-storey extensions. It is associated with a legend of John Faa, in which an earl killed Faa and imprisoned his wife, the Countess of Cassilis, in the castle.
