Kilbirnie

Kilbirnie (Gaelic: Cille Bhraonaidh ) is a town in the Scottish Unitary Authority North Ayrshire.

Geography

Kilbirnie is a small town in the east of North Ayrshire. It extends about 16 kilometers north of Irvine and 18 kilometers southwest of Paisley on both sides of the River Garnock. The nearest town is located about three kilometers east of Beith. A few hundred meters to the east is the lake Kilbirnie Loch.

History

To the west of Kilbirnie Kilbirnie Castle, the castle was built in the 15th century, which was long the seat of the Clan Crawford. The village grew very slowly. In 1742 she was one of only three houses, to which were added five more in the next 50 years. As industrialization Kilbirnie grew rapidly with the advent of the textile industry in 2631 inhabitants in 1841, and had until 1881 a fluctuating population by 3300. In the census of 1971, 8259 people lived in the city. Since then the number has been declining at least 7280 in 2001. This is partly due to the decline of traditional industries in the Central Belt. This is also reflected in the very high poverty rate of 31 % in Kilbirnie resist. According to the results of a study carried out in 2012, the residents of Kilbirnie have the ninth- lowest life expectancy of all cities in the United Kingdom.

Traffic

Kilbirnie is connected by the A760 to the road network. In the 19th century the neighboring village Glengarnock was connected to the railway network. Later were with Kilbirnie Kilbirnie South and two railway stations in the urban area, which were in 1930 or 1966 closed. They were served by the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway Caledonian Railway or the Dalry and North Johnstone Line of the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The Glengarnock station is still in operation and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line First ScotRail. The Glasgow International Airport is located 20 km north-east.

Attractions

The Kilbirnie Auld Kirk goes back to a church from the 1470s. Over the centuries, the building was expanded several times and is still in use today. North of the city, the mansion Ladyland House was built in 1816. Just as the church building, it is sorted into the highest category A Scottish monument. Furthermore, a sundial on the manorial listed in this category. The ruins of Kilbirnie Castle are classified as category B listed.