 Local tradition is that the castle had been the residence of the Abbot of Kilwinning, which may have arisen from the fact that the third son of Alexander Cunningham, 1st Earl of Glencairn, became the Commendator of the abbey after the reformation and may have lived at Kerelaw.In 1609 it was bought by Sir Thomas Boyd and soon after sold again to Sir William Cunninghame of Cunninghamhead.Thirty years later the castle and the nearby lands were bought by Sir Robert Cunninghame of Auchenharvie.