With their main territories in Carrick, in Ayrshire, and further southwest in Galloway, the roots of the ancestors of the Kennedys of today are not known with certainty.
• But one theory is that, in common with many other prominent clans and families who settled on the western seaboard of Scotland, they originally hailed from Ireland.
• They gained high honours and distinction, being granted the lands of Dunure, in Carrick, as reward for their support of King Alexander III in his victory over the Danes at the battle of Largs in 1263.
