A town in the Cunninghame district of East Ayrshire, Kilmarnock lies on the Kilmarnock Water and River Irvine, 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Ayr. Said to have been established in the 7th Century by the Irish missionary Mernoc or St. Ernan, Kilmarnock developed in Mediaeval times around the Laigh Kirk. Nearby Dean Castle, built c.1300 by the Earls of Kilmarnock, later fell into the hands of the Boyd family to whom Kilmarnock was chartered as a burgh in 1591 by King James VI. The town expanded in association with the manufacture of knives, clothes and bonnets (Kilmarnock cowls) and by the mid-18th century was regarded as the leading centre for woollens in Scotland. The Old High Kirk was built in 1732 to meet the needs of an expanding population. Coal mining, iron-founding, engineering, malting, whisky blending and the manufacture of shoes, carpets and railway locomotives later became important, while engineering, packaging, spinning and baking are still important industries.
A terrible flood on 14th July 1852 caused much damage, although no loss of life. It ran through the town centre at a depth of more than 1.2m (4 feet) when the Kilmarnock Water burst its banks. Kilmarnock Railway Station, at the top of John Finnie Street, dates from 1877. The town centre was redeveloped in the 1970s to include the Burns Mall, which opened in 1976. The contrast between this and traditional facades around Kilmarnock Cross is remarkable; the Cross is now pedestrianised and located here are a fine Neo Classical rotunda that was once a bank (1939) and a sculpture of poet Robert Burns and his printer John Wilson. The Johnnie Walker Bond in Strand Street was built in 1879 but redeveloped as offices for East Ayrshire Council in 2011. That part of the town centre around John Finnie Street and Bank Street was designated as an Outstanding Conservation Area in 1984.
Other places of interest include Kay Park with its monument to Robert Burns (1879) and Burns Monument Centre (2009), the Laigh Kirk on John Dickie Street (1802), the Palace Theatre and Grand Hall (1863), the Dick Institute (1901), as well as Dean Castle. The first edition of the poetic works of Robert Burns was published in 1786 in Kilmarnock, which was the birthplace of a number of poets and authors including John Goldie (1717 - 1809), Gavin Turnbull (1758 - 1801), James Thomson (1775 - 1832), George Campbell (1761 - 1818), Alexander Smith (1829-67), John Kennedy (1789 - 1833) and William McIlvanney (1936 - 2015). Kilmarnock Burns Club was founded in 1808. Others born in Kilmarnock were the instrument-maker Thomas Morton (1783 - 1862), artists James Tannock (1784 - 1863) and William Tannock, coal baron Archibald Hood (1823 - 1902), medical missionary David Landsborough (1870 - 1957), gardener and broadcaster Jim McColl (b.1935), London politician Sir Robin Wales (b.1955) and the musician Jim Prime (b.1960).
The Killie Pie is a savoury beef delicacy developed by a local bakery for Kilmarnock Football Club and now favoured by football fans across the country. Sport and leisure facilities in the town include the Ayrshire Athletics Arena, Galleon Centre, Rugby Park and several golf clubs.
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