A low-lying area between the mouths of the River Garnock and River Irvine in North Ayrshire, Bogside is situated a mile (1.5 km) northwest of the centre of Irvine. The remains of Bogside Racecourse can be seen here, which was developed by the Earls of Eglinton in 1808 and operated until 1965. This was the home of the Scottish Grand National from 1867 until Bogside's closure when the event transferred to Ayr Racecourse.
In 1840, Bogside gained a station of the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway, primarily to service the race course. In 1893, remarkably it gained a halt on the Lanarkshire & Ayrshire Railway. The latter station closed in 1930 and the former in 1967, although the Ayrshire Coast Line still operates.
Coal was mined here in the later 19th C., extracted from a pit in the middle of the race course and exported via a mineral railway extending beyond Bartonholm to the northeast. Established in 1887, Irvine Golf Club is also located here, while Bogside Flats are a salt marsh, located to the south.
