Part of a group of street-names off York Road derived from Scottish geographical names, also including Bute Street, Fife Street and Glasgow Street.
Ayr is the county town of Ayrshire, one of the nearest parts of Scotland to Ireland. During the 17th century, huge numbers of people left Ayrshire and settled in Ulster as part of the Ulster plantation. Some of the surnames common in Ulster are derived from Ayrshire place-names, such as Irvine, Cunningham and Dunlop. Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns (1759-96), was born at Alloway, two miles south of Ayr.