Earlier Times
The name Croy, in Gaelic, is Cruaidh (pronounced
Croo-ay), meaning `rocky' or `barren'. Local people know that
Croy Hill is indeed a rocky place and this perhaps explains why
Croy is so seldom mentioned in ancient history, whether secular
or ecclesiastical.
The earliest signs of human settlement in the area date from the
first millennium B.C. Archaeological excavations at the site of
the Roman fort on the Antonine Wall on Croy Hill in 1975 uncovered
traces of a late Iron Age or early Bronze Age palisade, which
had doubtlessly protected a primitive community. The same excavations
provided ample evidence of a considerably later community dating
from around 140 A.D., that of the garrison of Roman auxiliary
soldiers and their families. The excavations revealed indications
of farming, pottery making, charcoal-burning ovens and of cremation
rituals. Previous investigation had already yielded up a pagan
altar of Roman origin, the earliest evidence of any form of religious
practice at Croy.
As far as is known, Christianity did not arrive in the Croy district
until the spread of the evangelising influence of early saints
like St. Ninian, (4th century A.D.), St. Blane (5th century A.D.),
St. Mungo, St. Columba and St. Machan (6th century A.D.).
St. Machan, being a local saint, is of intrinsic interest. According
to tradition he was Scottish, educated in Ireland and was created
a bishop while on a visit to Rome. His influence appears to have
reached well beyond Campsie, to Lanarkshire, Perthshire and West
Lothian. It is thought that he was buried under the altar of his
ancient and long-ruined church in Campsie Glen. In 1458, about
nine hundred years after his death, he was still well enough remembered
for Partick Leche, Chancellor of St. Mungo's Cathedral in Glasgow
to erect an altar dedicated to him. It is situated on the north
side of the nave, at the third pillar from the roodscreen. Surely
the Croy area must have known St. Machan when his name was carried
to places much further away.
Several place-names near Croy suggest that Christianity had a
foothold in medieval and even earlier periods. Kilsyth reputedly
had an early church on the Ebroch Bum near Barrwood Quarry. The
name Craigannet in the northern part of Kilsyth parish implies
that an ancient chapel once stood there. Similarly, Annathill
to the south of Croy most probably once maintained an early chapel,
since the word annat (Gaelic form annaid) means
a saint's church or a church containing relics of a saint. Likewise,
where the letters kil appear in a name, there is a likelihood
of an ancient link to a church or monastic cell. It can be argued
that local names like Kilmuir (usually spelled Cuilmuir
locally) Kilsyth, Kildrum, Kilbowie and Auchenkilns (a corrupted
form of the Gaelic words auchen cille, meaning `the field of the
[monastic] cell' ), are so linked. Near to Auchenkilns Roundabout
is situated the area of Chapelton ('the place of the chapel')
well known to Condorrat villagers. It is also interesting to note
that old maps show a road running from Chapelton to Seafar and
that the Bishop of Glasgow had a summer residence in Seafar close
to where Our Lady's High School now stands.
The Croy locality is known to have belonged to the deanery of
Lennox in ancient times. More than seventy years ago Father John
Charleson, (missionary rector of Holy Cross, Croy 1907-1929 and
an enthusiastic antiquarian), held the view that the proprietorship
of `the lands of Croy' could be traced back to a grandson of Alwyn,
second earl of Lennox in the 13th century. It may even have been
that earl who gifted the first Campsie Glen church to Glasgow
Cathedral. What is more historically certain is that about that
time the Comyn family held sway over this eastern part of the
former Dunbartonshire (then a part of Stirlingshire). Comyn had
the great misfortune to be killed by his famous rival, Robert
the Bruce, in Dumfries High Church. He was aided and abetted in
the slaying by one, Sir Malcolm Fleming, who was later to become
the Earl of Wigton. As a reward for their adherence to Bruce's
cause, the Flemings were granted the Comyn barony of Kirkintilloch,
which included Cumbernauld and surrounding territory. It is worth
mentioning that there exists a record of a Fleming living in Croy
in the 17th century.
The Kirkintilloch church, which served the Comyns and then the
Flemings, was almost certainly St. Ninian's Church. The first
church of that name in Kirkintilloch had been built about 1140.
There was also a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. At the eastern
end of the barony, in Cumbernauld, the church which served the
owners of Cumbernauld Castle and their tenants was known as a
chapel-of-ease closely associated with the Church of St. Ninian
in Kirkintilloch. A chapel-of-ease existed at a distance from
its mother-church, for the convenience of remote parishioners.
Indeed, parts of the existing stonework of that church, now known
as Cumbernauld Old Parish Church, belong to the time of the Comyn
baronetcy.
Between the 12th and 15th centuries, the Church in Scotland was
thriving. Then, there were thirteen dioceses compared with eight
at present and Mass was celebrated in every corner of the Scottish
kingdom. In Glasgow, hierarchical continuity is traceable from
1115 to the present day, with very few years excepted. It is a
measure of the bitterness of anti-Catholic feeling accompanying
the Scottish Reformation that, within a single generation, Scotland
changed from being a Catholic country to being one where mass
was forbidden under pain of death. In the seventy years between
1546 and 1615, a Cardinal, an Archbishop and three priests were
hanged for their faith in Scotland. Papal authority was abolished
by law and Parliament decreed that all monasteries and abbeys
should be destroyed. By 1611 only four heroic priests were to
be found in the whole country. In 1696 all existing Scottish Catholics
were ordered to leave Scotland.
During this period of oppression, the Church in Scotland came
under the charge of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide which,
in due course, attempted to keep the administration of the Church
alive by making Scotland into a prefecture administered by a Prefect
Apostolic. This form of control lasted from 1653 to 1694 when
Thomas Nicolson, a converted Professor of Glasgow University,
became the first Vicar Apostolic. A new period of oppression seized
the Church in Scotland about this time. It lasted, with varying
degrees of intensity, until the relief Bill for Catholics of 1793.
The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, hard fought for by that
great Irish politician, Daniel O'Connell, followed this. Meantime,
in Glasgow, a series of priests cared for the pastoral needs of
a small and subdued Catholic flock – courageous men like
Alexander McDonald, John Farquharson and Andrew Scott. It was
Scott who took upon himself the task of building the chapel that
grew to become St. Andrews Cathedral, Clyde Street, in 1816.
Times were becoming more tolerant of our faith and two years before
the Catholic Emancipation Act, in 1827, Scotland was divided up
into three vicariates – the Northern, the Eastern and the
Western. Three Vicars Apostolic were appointed to administer the
three large districts.
The first Vicar Apostolic for the new Westc District was Bishop
Ranald MacDonald. Andre Scott was appointed his coadjutor to assist
the c bishop with his task. In 1828 Andrew Scott v< also consecrated
bishop. Four years later, in 18: he succeeded Bishop MacDonald
as Vic Apostolic of the Western District. Before this ev( came
another seemingly insignificant one whi was to prove a momentous
catalyst for the grog of the faith in our area.
On 30' November 1830, a group of twel devout Catholic men gathered
in Torrance, nE Lennoxtown, to draft a letter to Bishop Scott
his capacity as coadjutor and to Bishop Paters of the Eastern
district. The letter was a plainti plea begging both their Lordships
to find a pri, for their community 'as thair are a great numl
of Roman Catholicks here.' The nearest place worship to them
was then in Glasgow. They wf aware that, although they lived close
to Glasgc they actually came under the jurisdiction of 1 Eastern
District.
The appeal was successful, for 1831 saw 1 birth of St. Paul's
Mission in Lennoxtow although the actual church building was or
completed fifteen years later in 1846.
A further thirty-five years were to elapse bef( the third missionary
rector, Rev. John Magini, 1881 successfully requested of the th
Archbishop Strain of Edinburgh and St. Andre\ permission to change
the name to St. Machan's honour of the ancient local Scottish
saint.
Before 1846 there were very few Catholics our area. The 1845 Statistical
account for Scotla records that in the whole extent of Cumbernai
Parish there were only seven hundred families total. It went on
to state that 'there are 5 or Irish families, supposed to
be of the Roman Catholic faith'.
Besides marking the completion of St. Pat Church in Lennoxtown,
the year 1846 was to pn important for another historic reason.
That y saw the start of the great Irish Potato Famine. T catastrophe
was to be the cause of one and a 1^ million Irish men, women and
children leav their native land in the decade between 1846
1856. Many thousands of them settled in Scotland bringing with
them their strong devotion to Church. These immigrants found employmen
ironstone and coal mining, in limestone worki in iron and steel
production, railway building dockside labour. In the next few
decades, because the area was rich in coal, many of them settled
in Kilsyth, Croy, Smithston, Auchinstarry, Drumglass, Craiglinn,
Twechar, Condorrat and Cumbernauld.
Between 1831 and 1862, the Catholic Mission of St. Paul's at Lennoxtown
had to serve the needs as best as it could of the whole area to
the north and east of Campsie. In 1862 Rev. John Gillon from Lennoxtown
began a new church mission in Arnot's Hall, Charles Street, Kilsyth
to satisfy the spiritual needs of the fast-growing Catholic population
in that area.
The number of Catholics in Kilsyth grew rapidly even before numbers
were augmented by the building, from the 1860's onwards, of miners'
rows at Croy, Smithston, Drumglass, Auchinstarry, Twechar and
elsewhere by the Baird Company of Gartsherrie. In 1832 there were
about five Catholic families in the Kilsyth area. Between 1849
and 1863 the number had grown from one hundred to six hundred.
Remarkably, by 1866, this number had trebled to eighteen hundred
due to the availability of employment and housing both in Kilsyth
and places south of the Kelvin. The development of a Catholic
community in Kilsyth and environs was enhanced by the arrival
of Kilsyth's first priest, Father John Galvin, on 5th January
1865. It is not beyond our imagination to picture worthy miners
and their families trekking from the outlying villages and rows
lying south of the River Kelvin, to attend the 11.30 am. Mass
in Charles Street, and, from St. Patrick's Day on 17th March 1866,
in the brand new St. Patrick's Church in Lower Craigends.
Although Croy and Kilsyth belonged to different archdioceses,
prior to the founding of Holy Cross Parish, the Catholics living
across the county border from Kilsyth relied totally for their
pastoral and educational care on the Church and school of St.
Patrick's in Kilsyth. Writing in 1927, Father (later Canon) Octavius
Claeys, the Belgian born first curate of Holy Cross Croy (1903
– 1906), remarked 'who that had a grey hair in his head
did not remember the two fathers Murphy and the genial Canon Turner?'
John Canon Murphy had been priest in charge of St. Patrick's from
1873 until 1889 and Michael Canon Turner from 1890 until 1903:
(the second Father Murphy was a Kilsyth curate some years later).
Many children in those early years owe their education to those
two canons. Canon Murphy was responsible for the construction
of the first St. Patrick's School building in 1874. Ten yearsearlier,
before Kilsyth even had its own priest, catechism classes were
being held and the number of children attending those classes
grew from sixty to one hundred with the arrival, in January 1865,
of Father John Galvin, the first Kilsyth priest. Certainly, by
the 1880's at least, children from Smithston and Auchinstarry
were attending St. Patrick's School, which by then was offering
a full elementary curriculum. Clearly, the spiritual and educational
development of many of our ancestors was nurtured in the Parish
of St. Patrick in Kilsyth.
Canon Turner was devoted, not only to the Catholic people of Kilsyth,
but very much to those in more distant places. On, foot he visited
places as far away as Croy, Twechar, Cumbernauld, Condorrat and
Smithston. In his clerical diary for the years 1890-91, he wrote
of a sick call at Croy Row, visiting three Catholic families at
Turneyhill, near Twechar, calling on a couple in a `mixed marriage'
at Cumbernauld, visiting a partially paralysed man in Condorrat
and looking in, on one visitation, on half of the homes at Smithston
Row, which he called `Little Ireland'. Of Croy he wrote 'Croy
was my pet lamb for the lengthened period of twelve years'.
What a dedicated and devoted priest he was. |
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