The substantial remains of the old castle and sixteenth century manor house of Kilbirnie lie west of the town of Kilbirnie in North Ayrshire, Scotland, on the lower slopes of the Glengarnock Hills, in the old Barony of Kilbirnie. The building is also variously known as the Place of Kilbirnie, The Place, or Kilbirnie House.
The site lies close to a stream and small but deep ravine that once provided a defensive function for the castle site. The castle and manor house themselves are not in the grounds of the Kilbirnie Place Golf Club, which was itself laid out in 1925 on the old landscaped 'pleasure grounds' once attached to the castle site.
The OS maps show that a much later estate and house called Place was located nearby, built by the Knox family but now mostly demolished.
History
The name "Kilbirnie" is derived from the Gaelic language, and means "Church of St Brendan". The parish was divided into three baronies: Kilbirnie, Ladyland, and Glengarnock. The feudal Barony of Kilbirnie was the largest in the parish at around 5500 acres and had the most fertile quarter with 3000 acres of arable, pasture and woodland.
Kilbirnie Castle is said to be the site where in 1263 the Scots mustered under Alexander III before fighting Norwegian forces in the Battle of Largs.
The castle's location is on high ground above the bend of a deep ravine, giving the site some protection along its west and north sides although it is set back from the edge of this ravine. The word place in Scots refers to a landed proprietor's mansion house, and is equivalent in meaning to the English word "palace", although the term "palace" acquired its present connotations at a much later date. The dwelling is clearly seen as being in two quite distinct parts: one a substantial defensive tower built in about 1470 for Malcolm Crawfurd and his wife, Marjory Barclay, an heiress and the last of her line; the other part is dated to 1627 and is a more comfortable dwelling with no significant defensive features. The entrance to the new 'wing' has a very unusual and prominent projecting porch on the south front.
Timothy Pont's map, c. 1604, as published by Joan Blaeu in Amsterdam (1654), shows Kilbirnan Castle (sic), as this date precedes the building of the mansion house wing. John Adair's map of c. 1685 shows a castellated structure recorded as Kilburny. Roy's map of 1747 shows the castle and the landscaped avenue feature. A Mains Farm is shown located near to Kilbirnie Kirk. The 1832 Thomson map records 'Killbirny House' and shows a lane running directly from the house to the kirk. The 1856 OS map of refers to 'Kilbirnie House'.
The Honourable Patrick Lindsay purchased the castle and estate of Glengarnock in 1677 from Richard Cuninghame, the last of the Cuninghames of the Barony of Glengarnock. In 1707 both baronies were united in the Barony of Kilburnie, with the Manor House of Kilbirnie as the principal messuage.
Keep
This very impressive 15th-century structure measures 42 feet by 33 feet, with walls between 7 feet and 8 feet in thickness. A cellar was present and a sleeping loft under a vault. Another vault had a hall, lit by three windows in the south wall and a window high up in the north wall, a private room lay beneath. The tower was four storeys high and in the north-west corner a "starving pit" prison was entered by a hatch from a passage from the stair at loft level. Gun ports are not present.
In 1602 the Place of Kilbirnie was broken into whilst the laird "was furth of this realme" and his wife Margaret was at Greenock. A John Crawfurd of "Auchinbothe" was arrested and tried, however he was found innocent despite having returned some of the stolen items to Lady Kilbirnie. The charter chest was one of the items broken into and items removed from.
At the north-eastern side of the keep are ruins that represent the site of an oven and other building remnants that probably represent the site of the kitchens.
Divine protection
Set within the main fireplace of the keep are two red sandstone carved pieces with Gothic script. One reads 'Maria' and the other with smaller script has not been deciphered. Sandstone pillars on either side of this fireplace carry carvings of climbing plants that may be ivy. One suggestion regarding the Gothic script carvings in the fireplace is that they could be the names of saints and that this was a religious 'Apotropaic' protective device to prevent the ingress of evil spirits into the house through an otherwise 'unprotected' entry point.