History
The chapel was built in 1371 by Sir John Kennedy of Dunure, situated next to the parish kirk in Maybole.
In 1381, with the permission of the bishop of Glasgow, the church was raised to collegiate status. This involved the establishment of a college of priests – a provost, two chaplains and a clerk – to offer perpetual prayers for Sir John, his family and his ancestors.
The college continued to function for a while after the Protestant Reformation of 1560. Mass was publicly celebrated at Maybole by 200 people in Easter 1564.
The kirk remained in use as the burial place of the Kennedy earls of Cassilis and others up to the late 1600s. But it fell into ‘a most ruinous and filthy condition’ in the 1700s.
