Turnberry Castle ruins are on a low peninsular close to the A77 road north from Girvan, adjacent to Turnberry Golf Course. It is near the town of Maybole in Ayrshire, Scotland (Scottish Gaelic:Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, Alba). The origins of the castle are now no longer known. At one time it was a fortress of the Lords of Galloway, but passed into the possession of the Earls of Carrick in the 13th century. It is a fragmentary ruin and there is little left of the old castle today, although its lower vaults and cellars are intact. Its position by the sea, which at one time offered protection, has now left it vulnerable to coastal erosion. In 1873 a lighthouse was built on part of the castle's site where it remains today. Turnberry Castle has an association with King Robert I of Scotland (Robert the Bruce) who was known to have spent time there when young and may even have been born there.