Dunure Castle

Location: 19 Castle Rd, Dunure, Ayr KA7 4LW
Opening times: 24 hours.
Entry: No charge.
Access: Parking on street, no charges apply.

Dunure Castle stands on a rugged promontory overlooking the Firth of Clyde and is located about five miles south of Ayr. The castle itself may not match the splendour of other ruined promontory-dwellers such as Urquhart Castle or Dunnottar Castle, but the view it commands is spectacular. To the west and ever so slightly north is the isle of Arran, beyond which lies the Kintyre Peninsula. To the south-west the unmistakeable rocky dome of the Ailsa Craig juts out of the Irish Sea. It is all absolutely stunning.

Or at least I imagine it would be if I could see it. But the heatwave that has lasted all of July and a good part of June is still ongoing, and has created an offshore haze that has rendered all these landmarks invisible. I know exactly where the Ailsa Craig is but despite much squinting and peering on my part it eludes me entirely. It is as if it has been painted the exact same colour as the sky immediately above the horizon.

The current heatwave reminded me of its 1976 predecessor, so here is another attempt at editing a current picture to make it look like a postcard from fifty years ago. On most days Ailsa Craig would be unmissable on the horizon just above the small stone stack in the foreground of the rocks.

*Here is a picture taken in 2019, with Ailsa Craig clearly visible. I love this photo, and two young men skimming stones at the left are my sons*.

And so to Dunure Castle. The current ruins are of the 15^th – 16^th century castle, although there has been a stronghold here since the 13^th century. One tradition has it that it was built by the Danes. What is certain is that since 1357 it was in the hands of Clan Kennedy of Carrick, who ruled over much of south west Scotland for several centuries.

Parts of the castle are accessible, but the keep in the background is fenced off. The castle’s most famous visitor was arguably Mary Queen of Scots, who spent three days here in August 1563 during her progress around the west of Scotland.

Mary’s host was Gilbert Kennedy, 4^th Earl of Cassillis, who, seven years later, secured land belonging to Crossraguel Abbey by torturing the abbey’s Commendator Allan Stewart at Dunure. The unfortunate Stewart was tortured on 1 and 7 September 1570, by having his feet and body basted and roasted over a brazier. He was soon rescued by his brother-in-law the Laird of Bargany and the rights to the abbey land settled, one of the conditions being that Kennedy financially support the crippled Commendator, who never walked again, enough to allow him to live comfortably for the rest of his life. *The castle’s information board referred to the incident as ‘the roasting of the Commendator’, which my sons thought was hilarious. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve failed as a father.*

I seem to be coming across a number of post-mediaeval doocots in the course of my brown sign bagging, and here’s another. It probably dates from the 1500s, and like all such doocots it existed to provide a steady supply of meat and eggs to the castle. This one could contain up to 200 pigeons. Rather pleasingly, there were some pigeons murmuring and cooing away inside today, none of which was destined for the pot.

Destination or Diversion?

Even the most fervent castle-spotter will struggle to spend more than fifteen minutes here, so Dunure Castle is a diversion. However, Annie and I – and my mum! – spent a very pleasant hour just a few hundred yard away at Dunure Harbour, enjoying tea and sandwiches from the local cafe and watching a groups of youths plunging into the sea from the harbour wall. The day could be extended by visiting Ayr’s 3.5km-long sandy beach, or by taking in some of the Burns Country sights (see, for example, here, here, and here), all of which is a short drive from Dunure.

Destination or Diversion?

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