Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock ( kil-MAR-nək; Scots: Kilmaurnock; Scottish Gaelic: Cill Mheàrnaig, IPA: [kʲʰiːʎ ˈvaːɾnəkʲ]), meaning "the church of Mernóc", also colloquially referred to as Killie, is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996, and is the region's main commercial and industrial centre. The town has a total of 284 listed buildings and structures as designed by Historic Environment Scotland, including the Dick Institute, Dean Castle, Loanhead School and the original 1898 building of Kilmarnock Academy, with post-war developments of the controversial 1970s regeneration such as The Foregate and Clydesdale Bank building being considered for listed building status. The first passenger conveying railway in Scotland originated in Kilmarnock in 1812 as a horse-drawn four-foot-gauge (1.2 m) plateway and became known as the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway. The first printed collection of works by Scottish poet Robert Burns was published in 1786 in Kilmarnock. Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, was published by John Wilson, and became known as the Kilmarnock Edition. The internationally best-selling whisky Johnnie Walker was established in the town in the 19th century and was produced and bottled at the Hill Street plant until closure in 2012, following an announcement by owners Diageo in 2009 that the plant would close as part of company restructuring. The town grew considerably during the 1870s and the town's growth subsumed the village of Bonnyton, and by the 1960s, new purpose built suburbs such as New Farm Loch were constructed to accommodate the increasing population of Kilmarnock. By mid-2020, the population of the town was estimated to be 46,970, making Kilmarnock the 14th most populated settlement in Scotland as well as the largest town in Ayrshire by population.