My Dear People . . .
7 May 1886 is the historic date. Father Peter Link then assistant priest in Our Lady and St. Margaret’s was appointed priest in charge of Holy Cross. The new parish with a population of 770 souls was born.
To-day, one hundred years later we celebrate our centenary. We thank God for our faith and for the great priests and people who have kept that faith alive and passed it on to us.
This brochure records with justified pride the history of that century of pilgrimage. It is a history of sacrifice, struggle, stumble and success. We hope you will enjoy reading it and that your children and your children’s children will find there solidarity with the past and inspiration for the future.
We owe a debt of gratitude to our editorial group under the supervision of Dr. Tom FitzPatrick. You will find evidence of many hours of painstaking research and generous community co-operation.
May 1986, and we move together into our second century and into a world so different from that of a hundred years ago. While we must be grateful and proud of our past we cannot live in it. We must move ahead and fit ourselves for the challenges of to-day’s secularist society which rejects, or questions, all the gospel values handed on to us. This will call for constant renewal and ongoing conversion. With God’s help we will respond.
I would like to finish with the prayer of the Mass for the 4th Sunday of the year, which sets us beautifully into’ salvation history, and expresses our present hopes:
Father in heaven, from the days of Abraham and Moses, until this gathering of your Church in prayer, you have formed a people in the image of your Son.
Bless this people with the gift of your kingdom. May we serve you with our every desire and show love for one another even as you have loved us.
John Hanrahan.
Message from the Mother church
A mother takes loving pride in her children, and today St. John’s (now incorporated in St. Luke’s), looks with affection and love on her eldest child, the Church of the Holy Cross, which now celebrates its centenary. The last 100 years have seen many changes in the life of the Catholic Church in our area. The Mother church, St. John’s, has now been demolished but the work done by her continues devotedly and vigorously in her offspring. Long may this work continue.
Today we congratulate Holy Cross parish on reaching its centenary. We say a proud “thank you’* to the priests and people who have served her so well during the last 100 years, and will always remember them with gratitude and affection. We wish you continued long life with every good wish and blessing. May the next 100 years be even more fruitful than the 100 years that have gone before. Ad multos annos.
Francis O’Rourke, P.P.
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Introduction
Glasgow’s South Side
In the Middle Ages Glasgow was a small town situated on rising ground on the north side of the River Clyde near the confluence of the Molendinar Burn, centred around the 850-year- old Cathedral of St. Mungo and the University, which was then on the site now occupied by High Street railway station. South of the river the ground was flat and low-lying, and subject to flooding in places near the river and its tributary the Cart. About a mile to the south the ground level rose in a series of low hills or drumlins, and farther south still, to the higher land of the Cathkin Braes and the Mearns. The Romans in their time had established a camp on one of these low hills; from a vantage point on another, Mary, Queen of Scots had seen the defeat of her supporters at the Battle of Langside; from another. Crosshill by name, the great Cathedral would in those days have been clearly visible. The origin of the name is doubtful. One local tradition suggests that it may be derived from a wooden cross, said to have been some ten feet high, which may have marked a boundary of some kind, or perhaps acted as a landmark pointing the way to a crossing-point of the Cart.
By the year 1700 Glasgow was still very small, reaching westwards only about as far as the present line of Buchanan Street. A stone bridge built by Bishop Rae in 1345 had provided a crossriver link, but for all that there was little in the way of habitation on the south side of the Clyde. From the bridge, one rough track led westwards towards the great Abbey of Paisley, and another south towards Carmunnock and the Mearns. Near the bridge a tiny village called Gorbals had come into being, and from about the year 1730 it began to expand, mainly as a weaving centre.
As the 18th century advanced Glasgow’s importance as a centre of trade with the New World rapidly increased. The river was deepened, and a large port developed. The whole city prospered, and the open country south of the Gorbals began to be occupied by attractive country estates with evocative names, among them Larkfield, Butterbiggins, Gallow Knowe, Bryce Land, Gushet Faulds and Inglefield.
In neighbouring parts of the Clyde Valley, mineral deposits began to be exploited, and the expansion of the coal and iron industries soon followed, spurred by the revolution in industry that was then taking place and also by the demands of nations at war. In these years of developing heavy industry, the road systems were very poor and railways non-existent. Bulk loads were more easily transported by water. The Forth and Clyde Canal had been completed in 1790, and its success prompted the Earl of Eglinton to seek authority from Parliament to build a canal on the south side of the Clyde from Glasgow to Ardrossan via Paisley. In the upshot the canal was completed only as far as Johnstone. The Glasgow terminus was at Port Eglinton, at a point later occupied by Cumberland Street railway station. At first the canal paid its way, but with the development of railways it fell into disuse. A railway line now follows the old course of the canal.
In the development of the coal and iron industries in this area the Dixon family was a dominant force. In 1837 William Dixon set up the Go van Iron Works at the head of Crown Street, in the district formerly known as Little Govan. He was able to use the Pollok and Govan Railway, opened in 1830, to transport coal from his pits in the Little Govan and Polmadie areas to the iron-works, and to the river for shipment. For the next hundred years or thereabouts the blast furnaces, known as Dixon’s Blazes illuminated the night skies with an other-worldly glow, especially on those nights of mist and heavy low cloud with which Glasgow was then very familiar. The works were demolished in 1960, and their former site is now occupied by an industrial estate.
In an extraordinary outpouring of energy, Glasgow mushroomed during the 19th century. Roads and bridges were built, and south of the river the land began to be criss-crossed by a rapidly expanding and increasingly dense network of railways. By 1850, routes from Glasgow to Ayr, Greenock, Edinburgh and Beattock were in operation. One which was specially important for the development of the
south side was the Glasgow Southern Terminal Railway, which had its main station at Bridge Street when it opened in 1846.
As the city grew its population expanded at a phenomena] rate. To meet the demand for housing, local stone was quarried, claypits were exploited and brickworks set up to provide for the boom in house-building. New suburbs grew up in places made accessible first by the railways, and later by the tramway system. Local government was transformed. In 1833 Glasgow became a municipality with an elected council for the first time in its history. There followed various Municipal Reform Acts, as a result of which many small burghs came into being on the outskirts of the city, only to be absorbed eventually into the city itself. In 1846, the year in which St. John’s Parish was founded, three of these burghs, Anderston, Calton and Gorbals, were taken over, and by 1861 the population of the city, enlarged by these acquisitions, had reached almost 400,000. The picturesque eighteenth-century cottages of the rural villages were fast disappearing before expanding shipyards and dockyards. In 1871 the burgh of Crosshill was formed, and Govanhill in 1877; but a few years later, in 1891, both were annexed by Glasgow, after prolonged wrangling, along with the neighbouring burghs of Pollokshields and Pollokshields East, as well as Maryhill and Hillhead.
“The smallest of the burghs was Crosshill, which had an independent existence of only twenty years. It was purely residential, consisting of no more than five streets, three containing villas, along with a terrace and a number of blocks of middle-class tenements around the Victoria Road entrance to the Queen’s Park. Those along the Queen’s Drive were mostly built in the 1870s. . . North of Crosshill and inter-linked with it was the burgh of Govanhill, formed in 1877 and also annexed in 1891. A working-class burgh, it housed the employees of Dixon’s Ironworks and the Queen’s Park Locomotive Works. Dixon was the (feudal) superior, and when the district was laid out in the 1870s he ensured wide streets and a good standard of housing throughout…. The district of Mount Florida was annexed in 1891.
By that time it was already a well-developed area, mainly of middle-class tenements similar to Crosshill.” (The Tenement, by F. Worsdall).
The expansion of the south side as a residential area went hand in hand with the advance of the railways and later the tramways. In 1872 the
Glasgow Tramway Co. started to lay down tramway lines through the streets. The housing boom was then under way, and by 1877, when the burgh of Govanhill was instituted, it had a population of some 7,200. Two years later, the Dixon Halls were opened as a Burgh Hall. By 1881 the population of Govanhill was nearing 10,000. In 1886 the Cathcart District Railway had just been opened and G. and J. Weir’s of Cathcart established. The area was able to provide employment as well as housing and continued to grow. By 1891, when the two burghs were absorbed into Glasgow, the population of Govanhill was over 14,000 and that of Crosshill around 3,800.
The map for 1895 shows urban spread to have been mainly of the “ribbon development” character, especially along Cathcart Road. Gaily a narrow fringe of buildings existed along its east side southwards from the railway at Aikenhead Road. Eastwards lay the Locomotive Works, and a clump of buildings at Polmadie. Thereafter the land was open and undeveloped to the south as far as Cathcart, and to the east as far as Rutherglen.
The map reveals some other interesting features. The tramway lines which ran southwards along Cathcart Road, turned west along Queen’s Drive and then north again into Victoria Road, thus providing a useful circular route from and to the city. At that stage the tramcars did not run as far as Mount Florida. The map also shows, opposite the Dixon Halls, and not far from them, the Grand Stand of a football ground—the original home of the Third Lanark Football Club, which took its name from an army unit the Third Lanark Volunteers, whose drill ground is marked just to the east. Also shown is the first Hampden Park, the second home of Queen’s Park F.C., which occupied the space between Albert Road and the heights of Mount Florida, a site later to be taken over as Cathkin Park, the second home of Third Lanark F.C., when Queen’s Park moved to their present position. The first playing field of Queen’s Park had been at the Recreation Ground. The coming of the Cathcart District Railway compelled its removal. Cathkin Park is now a public recreational area.
Beginnings It was in this urban context that the post- Reformation renaissance of the Church in this part of Scotland took place.
In the latter part of the 18th century there were few Catholics in Glasgow. One account says that about the year 1760 there were only three Catholic families in the city. Towards the end of the century this situation began to change. Catholic Highlanders, displaced by the Clearances, settled in the city, many finding employment in the cotton mills then being established. Their number was swollen by an influx of immigrants from Ireland, attracted by the demand for labour in these and the other growing industries of the region.
In 1795 Father John Farquharson, a Banff man, who had been Principal of the Scots College in Douai before it was forced to close as a result of the French Revolution, came to Glasgow to serve the growing congregation there. He took over an old inn near the Gallowgate and converted it for use as a chapel and school. Ten years later, when the congregation had grown to around 450, he was succeeded by Father (later bishop) Andrew Scott, who was also from Banff. The Catholic community increased rapidly, reaching around 3000 by 1814, and Father Scott set about the building of a church in Clyde Street. The foundation stone was laid that year, and St. Andrew’s Cathedral with its adjoining presbytery was completed in 1816.
As the city’s population grew by leaps and bounds, so too did the Catholic community, particularly in the Pollokshaws and Gorbals areas. It is recorded in these early days that “the few faithful in the ’Shaws used to assemble together and march to Mass in St. Andrew’s, and later to St. John’s.”
About 1820 a mission was started in the ’Shaws, and in 1826 a chapel-of-ease, served from St. Andrew’s, was opened in the Gorbals, in a building formerly used as an industrial school. From this beginning came the great church and parish of St. John the Evangelist, which was established in 1846. A few years later, in 1849, an independent mission with a resident priest was set up in Pollokshaws. Its territory then included “Crossmyloof, Langside, Netherlee, Old and New Cathcart, Clarkston Toll, Carmonough, Cowglen and Mill Hall— besides, the following large villages: Thornliebank, Busby, Eaglesham—each of these three localities contains considerably above 300 Catholic inhabitants.” (From the Scottish Catholic Directory. 1850) “The mission is composed of persons employed in the factories,
bleachfields and printfields… on the banks of the Cart.” (,From the Centenary Brochure of St. Mary’s Pollokshaws.)
Chapel-of-Ease The foundation of St. John’s parish was a major step forward in the development of the Church south of the river. Thereafter, as the city
expanded, further new missions were set up— St. Anthony’s in Govan in 1861, St. Francis’ in 1868 and Our Lady and St. Margaret’s in Kinning Park in 1874. Finally, in 1882, a Chapel- of-Ease, served from St. John’s, was instituted in Daisy Street to meet the needs of the growing Catholic population of the Crosshill area. A dual purpose building, suitable for use as both school and chapel, was erected. This was a project of the Rev. Valentine Chisholm, the Administrator of St. John’s, who lived just long enough to see
the beginning of a mission at Crosshill. Before he died in October 1882 the school had opened with an enrolment of more than one hundred children, and Mass was being offered at 11 o’clock in the chapel on Sundays.
The Education (Scotland) Act of 1872, which introduced compulsory education for children aged between five and thirteen, had set up a national system of education under the control of School Boards. The Catholic Authorities, along with the Episcopalians, had decided to remain outside the national system, and their decision was reinforced when the Scottish Catholic Hierarchy was restored in 1878. As a result, the parochial schools were governed by managers appointed by the Church, usually the parish priest. In keeping with this decision, Holy Cross School came under the management of Rev. John McCluskey, who had succeeded Dean Chisholm as Parish Priest of St. John’s.
On 7 December 1882, Hannah Power was appointed teacher-in-charge of the school. The formal opening ceremony took place on 4 June 1883, and is described in the Scottish Catholic Directory for 1883 as follows:
“A new Chapel-School . . . was opened to meet the needs of the increasing Catholic
population of the vicinity, who had previously to attend St. John’s… It contains one large hall used as a classroom for weekdays and a Chapel for Sundays… At the end of the hall is a closed recess with folding doors for Altar …. The benches are so arranged that they serve the double purpose of seats for the congregation and school desks . . . The building was carried out to the design of Messrs Pugin and Pugin, Westminster, by Mr. John Devlin, contractor, of Glasgow. The amount of the contract was £1750. On the opening day Archbishop Eyre preached at the High Mass.”
Quiet progress followed. When on 14 January 1884 the school was visited by H. M. Inspector for the first time, Hannah Power had the assistance of another teacher, Sophia Stromier, as well as of a first year pupil-teacher, M. Haggerty. In the same year a branch of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was started in Crosshill, stimulated by the Conference of St. John’s. It has continued since then without a break through the hundred years of the parish’s existence. The first statement of its activities that is available names as office bearers Thomas J. Nicholls, President: William Gilmour, Treasurer; and T. Lochrane, Secretary: and lists 44 subscribers, whose donations range from £1 to 2/6.
Holy Cross Parish 1886-1986
Independence By 1886 the congregation at Crosshill had increased sufficiently for Holy Cross to become an independent mission, and Father Peter Link, an assistant priest at Our Lady and St. Margaret’s in Kinning Park, was appointed priest-in-charge on 7 May 1886. The estimated population of the new mission was 770. Peter Link was one of a small group who had come
to serve in Scotland partly as a result of the anti- religious legislation introduced by the Bismarck regime. He was born at Liershahn, Nassau in Germany on 24 December, 1853. He studied Classics at Montabaur, and then in 1876 entered the University of Bonn for Philosophy and Theology. In 1878 he came to St. Peter’s Seminary, which was then at Partickhill, and was ordained in the Chapel there on 21 September 1879 by Bishop McLachlan. His first appointment was to Our Lady and St. Margaret’s Kinning Park. (Scottish Catholic Directory 1881.)
As yet the parish had no presbytery, and so Father Link rented a flat in the tenement building at 36 Garturk Street. His rent for a half-year was £13. It would be difficult to calculate the present- day equivalent—perhaps around £600 would be about correct—but some idea of what it meant may be gleaned by comparing the cost of the following items with their present rates: his gas-
bill for three months of the winter of 1886-7 was 17 shillings and sixpence; 6 dozen Bible Histories for use in the school cost 9 shillings—i.e. 1 Vi pence each! and a bottle of altar wine cost one shilling and sixpence. Repairs to the harmonium—an early acquisition—cost 7 shillings and sixpence on one occasion, and one shilling and sixpence on another. Among the receipts which he kept meticulously, there is one for the purchase of some copies of popular ballads, presumably for use at some parochial social occasion. It can be confidently presumed that their titles reflect the interests and tastes of the congregation. They include songs well-known to an earlier generation—Let Erin Remember, Silent O Moyle, and, Go where Glory Waits Thee. In every case the cost was one penny per copy.
An early task during Father Link’s short tenure of office was to work out the boundaries of the mission, in consultation with the pastors of the neighbouring parishes of St. Mary’s Pollokshaws, St. John’s and St. Francis*. To follow these in detail it would be necessary to consult a map of the period. Here it may be sufficient to note that the territory of the parish, as finally approved by Archbishop Eyre, extended from its farthest north point in West Street at the Chemical Works, eastwards to the Southern Necropolis, then south-east to a point in Toryglen indicated on the map by Pit No. 6; then south to Cathcart Castle, west to the “Toll of Shawlands” and on to Haggs Castle, then roughly east and north again by Strathbungo and the railway-line to the starting point at West Street. To arrive at these limits, concessions of territory had been generously made by Canon McNamara of Pollokshaws, who relinquished part of Langside and Old and New Cathcart, and by Father Antoine Scannell, Guardian of St. Francis’, who made a gift of Polmadie to the new mission.
During Father Link’s time, the rapid development which was such a marked feature of all aspects of life in Victorian Glasgow, continued. In 1886, the year in which he took up his pastoral duties, the Cathcart District
Railway was opened, and the engineering firm of G. and J. Weir’s was founded; industries in the Cathcart area became increasingly diversified, adding the production of snuff and cardboard to their earlier activities of paper- production and dyeing; the Samaritan Hospital opened in its first premises in Cumberland Street, and in 1890, soon after his departure, moved to its present building in Coplaw Street. That was the year in which the Victoria Infirmary opened. Throughout the period, house-building was booming. Profound changes were also taking place in the field of education. Along with the introduction of compulsory education in 1872 had gone the setting up of a new national system controlled by School Boards working in cooperation with a new government-appointed body, the Scotch Education Department. Thus when Father Link took over the stewardship of Holy Cross, he found himself having in addition to his other duties the management of a school which had been in existence for about five years, now operating in circumstances which were new and unfamiliar for the Catholic community.
In 1886 the school had only one certificated teacher, Hannah Power. The average attendance was 179, and to help with her onerous task Miss Power had three pupil-teachers, Sarah McDonald, Elizabeth McCaig and Mary Ward. The roll increased, and by the following session the Mistress had in addition Ellen Rattray and Agnes McNee, as well as two more pupil- teachers, Bridget Bradley and Ellen Creamer. In the system which then obtained the certificated teacher had the heavy duty of educating the pupil-teachers, as well as training them in the art and craft of teaching. Hannah Power discharged these duties until her departure in December
Shortly before, the name of Eugenie Kampf appeared on the staff-list as Stipendiary Monitress—i.e. as one who had just been taken on for training as a pupil-teacher. On 7 January
Mary McGinlay was appointed to take charge of the school. Just certificated, this was her first teaching appointment.
It is clear, from the evidence of the schooPs first log-book, that Father Link was devoted to the well-being of the school and its occupants. The entry for 2 August 1886 reads: “Attendance much improved owing to the exertions of the new manager Rev. P. Link, who visited the school daily.”
Nevertheless his other duties were not neglected, and the devotional life of the infant
mission was not allowed to suffer. He introduced a special devotion to the Holy Family, as is shown by the many records of his purchases from time to time of Holy Family medals, ribbons and hymn sheets, and promoted other parochial societies. The Scottish Catholic Directory for 1889 lists them as: Altar Society, Living Rosary, St. Vincent de Paul, Holy Family and League of the Cross.
There can be little doubt that in his short stay in Crosshill he had built on secure foundations, and was able to leave a thriving and healthy community for his successor. The school log book provides a fitting conclusion to this short chapter in the life of the parish. The entry for 3 September 1889 reads: “Called the Registers and examined the books this forenoon and found everything correct.” (Signed) Peter Link; and then, for 9 September, 1889: “Double attendance given today. No dinner hour allowed, and children stopped lessons at 2 o’clock because of Presentation to the Rev. P. Link on the occasion of his leaving this parish and country”. On the following day Father Link visited the school accompanied by his successor Father William P. O’Brien, whom he introduced to the staff and pupils. At that date, the congregation of the parish numbered around 1000 souls, and the school population 210.
It is pleasant to record that Father Link made a return visit to Scotland some years later. He visited the school on 6 August 1895, and again on 20 September 1895. Clearly he had left a part of himself in Holy Cross.
Devon Villa With the appointment on 15 September 1889 of the Rev. William P. O’Brien as parish priest, a new era in the life of the parish had begun.
South of the river the expansion of the city was continuing apace. In 1891 a number of suburban burghs, including Govanhill and Crosshill, were absorbed into the city. Building activity was at a high level, and it was not long before almost all the vacant ground within the city boundary had been built over. It became necessary to spread outwards into the country districts. Developments began around Cathcart and Crossmyloof, as well as in other parts of the surrounding area. It is interesting to note that it was around this time that the cream-coloured stone quarried locally was becoming exhausted, and being replaced by red stone brought in from
Ayrshire, Dumfriesshire and elsewhere. Some of the newest tenements had a distinctive feature— bow (or oriel), windows—which added to the size of the main rooms and changed the appearance of the streets. In Crosshill the last of the vacant plots facing Queen’s Park were filled in about this time. Gradually the open ground towards Cathcart and Shawlands was built on with good red sandstone tenements.
Father O’Brien was a man of vision, able to read the signs of the times, and blessed with the energy and determination the situation required.
He was also blessed with the active support of a growing and enthusiastic congregation, and he at once set about building on the solid foundations laid by his predecessor. In spite of having to face a heavy feu-duty of £120 per annum and a debt of over £3000, he pushed ahead with plans for expansion. By 1892 the debt had been reduced to £2000, and the subsidies which Holy Cross had been receiving from St. John’s and the Diocesan Fund ceased. Two years later Devon Villa, a large mansion house at 104 Albert Road, was purchased for £1850, to be used as a presbytery. Some costly repairs had to be carried out, but the income of the parish had so increased that only £2000 was added to the debt. Before the new presbytery became available, Father O’Brien continued to occupy the flat at 36 Garturk Street. The earliest extant record of the activities of the Crosshill Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, for the year 1890, gives that address for Father O’Brien, the Spiritual Director.
The increased accommodation made it possible to appoint a second priest, and Father Francis Joseph Laveth a newly ordained priest,
was appointed in 1895. Within the year however he was transferred to Johnstone, and was replaced by Father Thomas Carlin, who came to Holy Cross from the long-since vanished parish of St. Vincent’s in Glasgow. With his coming it became possible to give greater attention to the spiritual needs of the community, but nevertheless it was soon evident that the Chapel- School was no longer adequate, either for the congregation which now numbered 1500, or for the 295 children on the school roll. In addition to these pupils, a further group numbering some 60 or thereabouts were being taught by the Franciscan Sisters, who early in 1894 had opened a small school and convent within the parish, at 3 Royal Terrace. By February 1895 the Sisters had moved to 86 Albert Road. The school and convent closed in 1911.
The Second Chapel-School A Building Fund was started, and in 1898 the decision was taken to erect a second Chapel- School on a site immediately adjoining the first, to be so constructed that the second floor could be used as a temporary chapel. Pugin and Pugin were again chosen as architects, Kirkwood and Smith undertook the brickwork and masonry, and Joseph Graydon the lath and plasterwork. With remarkable speed a fine two-storied structure of red sandstone, 145 feet long and 70 feet wide, was sufficiently complete for the chapel to be formally opened on 16 September
- A few weeks later the opening of the school followed. The total cost of the building and its equipment was £8500, towards which the congregation generously contributed £3500.
“The design is Gothic . . . The lower floor is devoted entirely to school purposes. There are seven classrooms . . . divided by partitions . . . as all of these are movable it is possible to transform the seven classrooms into one great apartment. . . The schools are fitted with the fullest modern equipment, and will accommodate 500 scholars. The upper part will be used as a chapel… It is lined around with pitch pine, varnished as far as the windows. . . The altar is placed at the northern end of the building… At the opening ceremony, High Mass was celebrated by the Very Rev. Canon McCluskey; Father Emile de Backer was Deacon and Father Andrew O’Brien sub-deacon. The Master of Ceremonies was Father William O’Brien . . . Bishop Maguire preached after the First Gospel.” (Scottish Catholic Directory, 1901).
The links of the officiating clergy with the parish are interesting. Canon John McCluskey, then Administrator of St. John’s, had been in charge of the mission and school from 1882 until the appointment of Father Link; Father Andrew O’Brien was the brother of the parish priest, and Bishop Maguire who was then Bishop Auxiliary of the Archdiocese (he became Archbishop in 1902, the first to come from immigrant Irish stock) resided in the parish, at Crosshill House in Crosshill Avenue. The site of his house is now occupied by a sheltered housing development.
The log-book describes the formal opening of the school which took place a few weeks later:
“22 Oct. 1900. His Grace Archbishop Eyre blessed and formally opened the new school today. Very Rev. Canons McCluskey, Mackintosh, Chisholm and Cuthbert, and Fathers de Backer, Gartland, Toner, McCarthy, Morrison and Mackintosh were present. The children in their different divisions rendered several school songs, and gave an exhibition of club, barbell, dumb-bell and hoop drills. After a short address from His Grace and Father O’Brien, the children presented the Archbishop with a bouquet of flowers, and the proceedings terminated.”
The interest that this event aroused in the Archdiocese generally may be judged from the seniority of the clergy present. Canon Mackintosh later became Archbishop-elect of Glasgow, but died in 1919 without succeeding to that office; Father Mackintosh became Archbishop of Glasgow in 1920; and Father Toner became Bishop of Dunkeld.
By this time the congregation had increased to 2263, and the roll of the school to around 270. The staff had increased both in numbers and in level of qualification. The Head Mistress Mary McGinlay had been recognised as L.L.A.—Lady
Literate in Arts—a qualification awarded by the University in the days before women were admitted to degrees; and Eugenie Kampf had taken the teacher-training course at Mount Pleasant College in Liverpool. The other members of staff were: Margaret McAllister, Kate Flanagan, Mary Ann O’Brien, Mary Mullen, Helen Rattray and Annie Watson, together with pupil-teachers Annie McKenna, Elizabeth Finnegan and Agnes Donnachie.
The parish now had ample accommodation for its needs, for a time. The first Chapel-School became a parochial hall, known as “The Institute’’, and was used for meetings of sodalities and for entertainments, weddings and social occasions. In 1904 the pastoral strength was increased with the appointment of Father William Mangan, on loan to the Archdiocese from Ireland, and it became possible to have three Masses on Sundays, at 8, 9.15 and 11 o’clock, with an evening service at 7 p.m.; but it soon became evident that the entire accommodation of the new Chapel-School would be needed for educational purposes alone.
Another new initiative was required, and on 5 January 1905 a committee was formed to raise funds for a major building project. An ambitious plan was formulated, which came to fruition in the autumn of the same year, when the parish took over the City Hall for a Grand Bazaar, and occupied these lordly premises for three whole days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 5, 6 and 7 October 1905.
A copy of the programme, THE BOOK OF THE BAZAAR, has fortunately been preserved by Father Michael McCabe, an “old boy’* of the parish and made available to us through the good offices of Mr. Tom McGlinchey. It indicates the scope of what was a most impressive effort for a single fairly small parish. Altogether more than two hundred parishioners were involved in the organisation. Nine committees were set up, of which it is possible to give here the names of only the Executive Committee, presided over by Father O’Brien. Its members were: John McKinney, John McKillop, Hugh Crawford, David Mullen, Daniel Docherty, Charles Logan, Alex. Clark, John Tunn, Patrick Aikens and Miss McGinlay. The Bazaar itself operated through five major stalls, designated Rose, Thistle, Shamrock, Entertainments and Refreshments, and their efforts were supported by the proceeds of a series of events which took place throughout the year. The whole enterprise
was entered into with enormous enthusiasm by the entire parish, so much so that the enormous sum for those days of £1400 had been raised by various means before the opening day. The opening ceremony on the first day was performed by Lady lire Primrose, by William McKillop M.P. on the second day and by John McKinney on the closing day, Saturday 7 October 1905. The parish’s Annual Return for that year shows that a total of £1762/l/2d was made available for reduction of the debt on the school, representing a figure in the region of £60,000 and perhaps much more at present day values.
Dixon Avenue One debt cleared. Father O’Brien went ahead without delay with plans for further development. On 19 March 1907 he submitted sketches to the Archdiocesan Board of two sites for a new church which it was thought might become available, both in Dixon Avenue, one at the corner of Daisy Street, the other at Belleisle Street close to the Dixon Halls. Both feus were owned by the Dixon family, having been acquired when William Dixon purchased the lands of Crosshill in ,1840. Eventually a feu contract was entered into for the second of the two sites, between the feudal superior, Dixon, and the Trustees /of the Catholic Church Govanhill, who were: Archbishop J. A. Maguire, and Canons McJ3rearty, McCluskey and Toner. This gave the/Trustees entitlement to the land, and boima them to erect a church on it. However; this intention aroused great opposition among the residents of the neighbourhood, who feared a decline in amenity and in the value of their property if the project were carried through, particularly if it should provide a focus for assemblies of Irish people in the vicinity. Whether due to their influence or not, the Glasgow Dean of Guild Court refused the permission necessary to allow the church to be built. The Trustees appealed to the Court of Session, and to the great joy of the congregation judgement was given in favour of the Church on 14 July 1909. The way ahead was now clear. Designs for a church not to exceed £8000 and for a presbytery not to exceed £2000, had been approved the previous year. Under the direction of Pugin and Pugin the work began, and with remarkable expedition both were completed before the end of 1911.
The Minutes of the Archdiocesan Finance Board show that on 18 Jan. 1911 “leave was
given to obtain designs for two stained glass windows for the Sanctuary, which were to be a special gift from one of the parishioners.” On 2 March, permission was given for seating “to supplement the benches from the existing Chapel-School”, and Hardman’s designs for the stained glass windows were approved; and on 24 May Mr. Pugin Powell’s designs for the Rood, to cost £160, a Statue for the front outside at £30 and a Votive Stand at £24/10 likewise were approved. Perhaps surprisingly designs for the High and Side Altars did not receive approval at first, but this was subsequently given on 28 June 1911 subject to an alteration being made to the Benediction Throne. Offers were requested for the construction of three confessionals and a Communion Rail, designed by Mr. Powell, and for Stations of the Cross designed by Beyaert but with frames designed also by Mr. Powell. J. D. Bennett’s offer for a total of £74 for three confessionals was accepted. (The fourth confessional, which differs in design from the others, came from the Chapel-School, where it had long been put to its proper use for the children, as many of our more senior parishioners can testify.) The High Altar was presented by Father O’Brien’s brother, and the Stations of the Cross were gifted by a number of individuals, whose names are commemorated on each. The First Station is in memory of Archbishop Eyre, and the Thirteenth was the gift of the Holy Family Confraternity.
On Sunday 26 November 1911 the Solemn Opening of the new church took place. Long before 11.30, when High Mass was due to begin, every seat in the church was occupied. To control the throng and to preserve the standard of dignity that the occasion demanded, admission had to be by ticket only. These were priced at ten and Eve shillings each—substantial sums in those days, which made a useful contribution to the reduction of the debt.
A detailed report appears in the Scottish Catholic Directory for 1912.
“The new church of Holy Cross . . . consists of a nave and two aisles, ending with a deep chancel rising well above the nave floor, and circular behind the high altar.
The church is divided into seven bays . . . separated from the aisles by an arcade carried by stone shafts with moulded caps and bases. There are three entrances . . . two in Dixon Avenue and one in Belleisle Street… A flight of stone steps leads to the organ gallery . . . The length of the
church is 159 feet, with a width of 29 feet in the nave and 12 feet across the aisles. At the east end . . . are grouped the priests’, boys’ and working sacristies . . . connected by a corridor to the presbytery . . . The whole work has been carried out from the design of the architects Pugin and Pugin . . . Archbishop Maguire presided at the opening ceremony . . . Rev. William P. O’Brien was celebrant . . . The Cathedral Chapter and a large gathering of clergy were in attendance.”
The final Mass offered in the Chapel-School that day was celebrated at 10.30 by Father Patrick Hackett, who had the further task at the High Mass of taking charge of the galaxy of altar boys, forty in number. The Cross-Bearer was Father John Clark, who was the first former pupil of Holy Cross to have been ordained priest.
He had studied at St. Sulpice, and was ordained in Paris on 4 July 1908. We are indebted to his sister Maria for the accompanying photograph. His father, Patrick, had been in charge of the parish choir for a number of years, and conducted the singing at the Solemn Opening Ceremony.
In 1911, Father O’Brien had already been parish priest for 22 years. He had two curates, Fathers Mangan and Hackett both on loan from Ireland, to help with the congregation of around 3,700. Father Mangan was replaced by Father Timothy Courtney, also from Ireland, in 1912. On Sundays there were four Masses, at 8 o’clock, 9.15 (for children) 10.15 and 11.30, and an evening service at 7.00 p.m. An Altar Society, the Children of Mary which is associated particularly with the name of Mary McGinlay, Living Rosary, S.V.D.P., the League of the
Cross, Sacred Heart and Holy Family sodalities for men and women were all thriving.
Interest in education was at a high and increasing level within the Catholic community generally. In Holy Cross the school roll had increased to nearly 600; fortunately the opening of the new church had had the effect of doubling the available accommodation. In the whole Archdiocese, between 1890 and 1910, 24 new parishes had been founded, each with its own school, and many of the Managers found their way to Crosshill to benefit from the experience there. Archbishop Eyre himself was a frequent visitor, the last occasion being on 20 February 1901 when he was 83 years of age.
Beyond the parish bounds however things were different.
The peaceful progress which the’ above account suggests was not reflected in the world outside. Powerful movements of ideas in the scientific, social, political and religious spheres were sweeping Europe, and Scotland could not but be affected. The established Church of Scotland was caught in the ferment. One young minister, the incumbent of Avondale Kirk in Lanarkshire, “after many months of anxious and prayerful study . . . absolutely uninfluenced by any human or earthly consideration*’ decided to resign his charge, and on 15 August 1903 Henry Grey Graham was received into the Church at Fort Augustus Abbey by Dom Columba Edwards, a convert like himself. The significance of this event for Holy Cross and the Church in Scotland was still hidden in the future.
With the building of the new church, the parish debt had reached over £15,000, a sum of over half a million pounds in present day terms, and the cost of interior furnishings and decoration had still to be met. Canon O’Brien was undaunted by the enormity of the task. His congregation was still increasing, and Glasgow appeared to be flourishing as much as ever. In 1912 Govan, Pollokshaws, Cathcart, Newlands and Partick were absorbed into the city. Industry, commerce, transport and entertainment were thriving. On 19 June 1914 the school marched to Queen’s Park for a Children’s Day celebration, and the Infants Department were given a “treat” in the playground. The final entry in the first log book, dated 26 June 1914, reads: “Results of examination announced by the Headmistress . . . School dismissed for the Midsummer vacation.”
1914-1918 Two days later, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated. Germany invaded Belgium, and Europe was plunged into war. Before that vacation was over, the well-loved Headmistress, Mary McGinlay, died tragically in a drowning accident while on holiday in Ireland. All her professional life had been spent in Holy Cross School. Eugenie Kampf took over charge of the school.
War or no war, the life of the community had to go on. The congregation soon topped 4,200. Fathers Hackett and Courtney were recalled to Ireland. Father O’Brien became a Canon in 1915. The parochial Institute was converted into a Supplementary school, and electric lighting was installed. In 1917 Father Alex Hamilton was attached to the parish, and remained for two years, during which he instituted the Boys’ and Girls’ Guilds. Over in the east, Rt. Rev. H. G. Graham was consecrated Bishop Auxiliary of St. Andrews and Edinburgh on 16 November.
During 1918 the Victoria Infirmary and Samaritan Hospital were attended by the priests from Holy Cross. In September an influenza epidemic of alarming proportions swept through the community, and on 11 November 1918 Germany signed the Armistice.
Regrettably, a Roll of Honour recording the names of parishioners who gave their lives in the First World War, the work of Miss Kampf, cannot be traced; but thanks to the devoted work of Mr. John Gray of the St. Vincent de Paul Society some at least of these names have been recovered. They stand as a memorial for all those others unknown to us.
James Bardon, Thomas Boyle, Alfred G. Deveria, William Flynn, Thomas Kelly, James Logan, John McGarrigle, John McGuire, William McNab, John Mooney, Robert P. Morgan, James Mulvey, William Sheridan.
Education Act 1918 Almost simultaneously with the ending of the Great War, the Education (Scotland) Act 1918 was passed. This statesman-like measure was destined to transform the situation of the whole Scottish Catholic community. Among other consequences, the old School Boards were replaced by committees to be elected specifically for the government of the educational system; and the education authorities so constituted were empowered to give financial assistance to young people undertaking secondary or higher education. For the Catholic community the major issue was whether or not to transfer the parochial schools into the national system. In the event this did happen, and when the first elections for the new Education Committees took place on 4 April 1919, Canon O’Brien, who had had a long-standing interest in educational matters and had been a member of the Govan School Board, headed the poll for the Glasgow Education Committee. Thereafter the management of the parochial schools passed into the hands of the Education Committee, but Religious Education remained the responsibility of each parish priest, besides being safe-guarded in other ways.
The heavy financial burden of providing for the education of the children which had been carried since 1872 was lifted, and the beneficial effect on the parish was immediate. The debt rapidly dwindled, and energies could be released in other directions.
Development By 1919 Canon O’Brien had been in office for thirty years, but another decade of fruitful activity was still to follow. In that year a branch of the Young Men’s Society was formed. Initially enthusiasm was high, but soon membership dwindled so far that some meetings had to be held “al fresco”. The determination of a few kept the association alive, so much so that in 1924 a shop in Aikenhead Road was rented and converted by the members into a meeting place. It continued to serve the parish until 1932. In the early days a Dramatic Club was formed, while the Children of Mary pursued a similar activity, but—surprisingly no doubt to modern eyes— separately. The St. Vincent de Paul Society quietly carried on its charitable work which was supremely necessary in those days of hardship in the aftermath of war. Clearly the Holy Cross Conference was much involved in all SVDP activities, at national as well as local level. Its principal officers during the ’Twenties were its President Daniel McGlinchey, and David Mullen, who became National Treasurer, and from whose business premises in the city the
national organisation of the Society was conducted. A major project of the SVDP was the establishment of a residential Home at Langbank, to provide relief for children of hard- pressed families in the city. Many parishioners will recall that David Mullen’s daughter Margaret entered the Carmelite Convent at Langside. With two others she opened the Carmel in Falkirk, in a house purchased for the Order by David Mullen. Other ladies from the parish who entered the Carmelites were Vera McKenna, Marie Robello and Teresa Noon; Margaret Mary McCrudden and Alice Campbell joined the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; and Bridget Barnett the Good Shepherd Sisters.
Throughout the ’Twenties the assistant priests were for the most part young, newly ordained in Ireland and on loan to the Glasgow Archdiocese. They were: Fathers Patrick O’Brien, Daniel Horgan, Alex McCormick, Patrick O’Mahoney, and Denis Griffin. Michael McNicholas from Co. Mayo was the first to be ordained for the Glasgow Archdiocese. Father O’Mahoney, who was the first Spiritual Director
of the Catholic Young Men’s Society, guided it through its teething troubles and saw it installed in its own meeting room before his return to Ireland in 1927. Father Griffin took over for a brief spell, and was then succeeded by Father McNicholas, whose work over a number of years saw the Branch make substantial progress. At the general communion for all Branches in the Archdiocese on Low Sunday 1930, the turnout from Holy Cross * ‘easily eclipsed any other Branch taking part.”
From the foundation of the parish the people had responded to the varied calls on their resources, both spiritual and material, with outstanding generosity. How well those foundations had been laid became evident in the years following the Great War, when increasing numbers of young folk placed themselves at the service of the Church. Among those of whom we have knowledge can be mentioned Father Andrew McArdle, from Myrtle Park, who was a missionary to China and exercised an influence on Father Conway, prototype of the missionary in Cronin’s “Keys of the Kingdom”; Fathers Francis Murray (brother of Dan) and Patrick Mcllwee, of the Holy Ghost Fathers; Edward Douglas, who became the first Bishop of Motherwell, and his brother Robert who became
a Canon of the same Diocese; four of the sons of Mr. and Mrs. George McGhee, Fathers Albert, Victor, Edward and Augustine of the Franciscans—the family had a strong link with St. Francis* parish; and Father Vincent Cowley, whose family came to the parish when he was seven years of age; he had his elementary schooling here. The flow continued with the departure to seminaries in Rome, Valladolid and Bearsden respectively of Daniel McGlinchey, Donald Bonnar and John Noon, all of whom were ordained in 1932. Donald Bonnar’s stepbrother was ordained as Fathert Alphonsus O.F.M. It was about this time in the life of the parish that Stephen McGill left his home in Dixon Road to begin the studies which were to take him via Blairs and St. Sulpice to his present high office as Bishop of Paisley.
Canon O’Brien’s life-long interest in education took many practical forms. As manager of the parochial school before 1918, he was a frequent visitor, usually accompanied, even into the classrooms, by his dog Spunkie. For many years he was a member of the Govan School Board, and after 1918 was elected to the Glasgow Education Committee along with Mitchell Quin to represent the Catholic interest. He was a Trustee of the O’Brien Family Trust, founded
in 1931 to help provide for the higher education of young Catholic men and women, a very necessary aid in those days when student grants in their present form did not exist. When he was compelled to retire through failing health at the end of 1929, the school roll had grown to over 1000, and an Advanced Division had begun to emerge. The development of the parish and the advances of Catholic education in Glasgow and the West of Scotland generally, go hand in hand. A brochure of 1931 notes that of those former pupils of Holy Cross School who sought higher education, many trained as teachers and doctors, some took Holy Orders and some entered convents at home and abroad. Another contribution to education within the parish in the Canon’s time was made by the Ommers, a German family whose three daughters Maria, Julia and Elsa set up a private music school in Dixon Avenue.
The congregation had now grown to around 6,000. Vitality was high, and the many societies were in a flourishing state. There were five Masses on Sundays as well as an evening service, and three on weekdays, at 7.30, 8 and 9 a.m. Parishioners who have personal memories of the Canon almost always refer to his somewhat severe appearance and formal style of dress. He usually appeared wearing a ’*‘tall* * hat—some referred to it as a “stove pipe,,—and a frock coat, accompanied on his walks by Spunkie. Not surprisingly he was a weel-kent figure in the district. He had instituted his own ecumenical movement by sharing his walks occasionally with the minister of a neighbouring church, who was also a dog-lover. The pavements of Dixon Avenue were lined with trees, and it is said that the minister fought strenuously but unsuccessfully to prevent their removal by the local authority. The attitude of the Canon to this important environmental issue is not recorded.
In the 1920s there were many open spaces within the parish bounds, particularly towards Polmadie. One large area, known as Bon Park, was large enough to accommodate twelve full- size football pitches, as well as a boating pond. Often the young men and boys of the parish, playing football there, would be joined by one or other of the young curates; who would be seen re-donning their clerical collars if the Canon hove into view.
Canon O’Brien lived in retirement for four years in Rothesay until his death in 1937. The following is an extract from the obituary notice in the Scottish Catholic Directory for 1938:
“He found a small and scattered flock, served by a chapel-school of meagre accommodation; when failing health forced him to retire he left a large and edifying congregation, a church perhaps one of the most magnificent in the diocese, with schools ample and up-to-date, a commodious hall and a modern presbytery, witnesses to his outstanding administrative abilities and apostolic zeal. These monuments in stone and lime however speak less eloquently of his ministry than the edifice of faith, loyalty and love raised within the hearts of his flock, and proved by unprecedented scenes witnessed in the streets of Crosshill on the day of his funeral. He died in his 76th year and the 54th of his priesthood, and is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Dalbeth.”
Pastor Extraordinary
Canon O’Brien’s successor was no ordinary person. Henry Grey Graham was the last in a line of Presbyterian ministers which stretched in unbroken succession from father to son for more than two hundred years. In 1903, at the age of twenty-nine, he was received into the Catholic Church, when he had already been licensed as a minister of the Church of Scotland for six years. There followed four years of study at the Scots College in Rome, culminating in his ordination to the priesthood on 22 December 1906 by Cardinal Resphigi in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. It must have been a source of great joy to him during his time in Rome that he had been able to be present and to serve at the first Mass of his great friend, fellow-convert and colleague in the Kirk, John Charleson, whose ordination took place on 17 December 1904.
Father Graham’s priestly life began in Lanarkshire, first in Larkhall, then in Motherwell. After about ten years there, on 16 Nov. 1917, in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, he was consecrated Bishop Auxiliary to the Most Reverend James A. Smith, the elderly and ailing Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh. It was the first time that a former minister of the Established Church of Scotland had been raised to episcopal rank. In the congregation were the Bishop’s two brothers, Lieut.-Col. R. Balfour Graham, R.A.M.C., and Mr. W.A.G. Graham. The occasion attracted a great deal of popular attention. It was seen as an unique event, and reported as such along with grim war news from the Western Front.
For the next twelve years Bishop Graham carried the main burden of the administration
of the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh. A full account of his labour has been given by Monsignor Hugh G. McEwan, himself a former parishioner of Holy Cross, in his book, “Henry Grey Graham”. Here it may be sufficient to recall that during his time in Edinburgh the Bishop was involved in the controversy surrounding the Education Act of 1918; also in the legal battle known as the Bonnybridge case, which began in 1920 and was only finally settled in 1929 when the House of Lords ruled in favour of the Church; and in the “Irish Question”, then a dominant issue in the minds of many Catholics. Bishop Graham showed himself a clear-sighted, outspoken and courageous defender of the Irish cause. When Archbishop Mannix of Melbourne sought a platform in Edinburgh from which to plead the case for a united Ireland, it was Bishop Graham who came to his aid.
In June 1928 Archbishop Smith died, to be succeeded by Andrew Joseph McDonald, Abbot of Fort Augustus, and in 1929 Bishop Graham returned to the West of Scotland. On June 29 of that same year, three future priests of Holy Cross, John Little, James Ward and Patrick Wycherley were ordained. In 1930, Bishop Graham was appointed parish priest.
For twenty-nine fruitful and fateful years he dominated the life of the parish. These were years which encompassed the economic depression of the early 1930s, the foundation within the parish of Holyrood School, the growth of the new suburb of King’s Park and the opening of the parish of Christ the King; the anxious years of the Second World War; and the dramatic and rapid changes which followed its ending. At the time of his death in 1959, the first moves were already afoot to prepare for the Second Vatican Council.
The ’Thirties The ’Thirties have become a byword for economic hardship. The decade began with the nation caught in the toils of a world-wide depression and continued through a period marked by a high level of unemployment felt with particular severity in the west of Scotland. Coal-mining, ship-building and the other basic heavy industries of the region were especially hard-hit. The impact was all the greater because the social services had not developed to the extent that is known today.
Nevertheless, it is true to say that for the Catholic community of Glasgow, quiet and steady progress was then being made in several directions. The substantial benefits that flowed from the Education Act of 1918 were being generally felt. There was a rapid growth in the numbers attaining to the various levels of higher education, with a consequent increase in the entrants into a wide range of professions, especially into teaching, and in this general advance the people of Holy Cross notably shared.
The parish was singularly blessed by the appointment of the saintly Bishop Graham as parish priest. His intense love of God, his exacting love of the liturgy and its celebration in plainsong, and his reverence for the beauty of the House of God had an immediate influence. With the energetic assistance of a group of able curates, Fathers Patrick Clarke, James McGrory, Michael McNicholas and Patrick Sheridan, the heavy work of the large and still growing parish was methodically undertaken.
A long-felt want was for a central meeting- place, and the Bishop soon turned his attention to this problem. In April 1931 he announced a Grand Sale of Work to be held in the Dixon Halls on 1st and 2nd May. The Foreword to the programme runs:
“In a mission with such large and increasing numbers and activities as Holy Cross, the need is felt for some building to serve as a meeting place for the Guilds and Societies, and as a suitable centre for social intercourse among the parishioners. . .
It is proposed … to adapt Devon Villa . . . This fine large house . . . served as a residence for the clergy until the president Presbytery was built. . . When alterations are carried out, it will at least provide on the ground floor (for women) a large social room, capable of being divided into two or more if necessary, and a second room for committees; and on the second floor (for men) a billiard room and a room for games, reading etc and a third room for meetings. . . After meeting the alterations, there will probably be sufficient to lay aside for the cleaning and touching-up of our beautiful church, perhaps for its enrichment. ” It would be difficult to exaggerate the enthusiasm that went into this project, just as it would be impossible, for reasons of space, to name all those who contributed.
The official programme lists 236 people, men and women, boys and girls, who shared the work of the ten committees. The few who can be mentioned here must serve as representative of
their co-parishioners. The executive committee, presided over by the Bishop himself, had David Mullen as chairman, Father Clarke and Assistant Chief Constable Walter Doherty as treasurers, Patrick McGovern and Eugpnie Kampf as secretaries. The conveners of the various subcommittees were Mrs. Clark, Mrs. D.
McGlinchey, Miss McKenna, Mrs. Alexander, Mrs. Kelly, Mrs. Ponsonby, Mrs. McGuire, Miss Duff, Miss McCrudden, Miss Wilson and James Rice. On the first day the opening ceremony was chaired by Rt. Rev. Provost Ritchie, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese, and performed by Canon O’Brien; on the second, Chevaliers Thomas Colvin and Mitchell Quin performed these functions.
From every point of view the project was an unbounded success. With the proceeds the Bishop was able to set about the restoration of Devon Villa, which was accomplished by 1932. The accommodation it offered, however, was still inadequate for major gatherings, and the Dixon Halls continued to serve as a social centre. He then began to plan the embellishment of the church, in preparation for the Golden Jubilee of the mission which was due in 1936. To this end he launched an appeal for church improvements, appearing in full episcopal regalia at every Mass on one Sunday to do so. To involve as many as possible in his plans, he invited every family to contribute the sum of £2 to be spread over two years, and appointed persons chosen by himself to make the collection. The corresponding figure for the present day would probably be in excess of £50. In addition, he sought individual anonymous donors from the wealthier sector of the community to provide important expensive items, such as the marble pulpit, altar rails, bronze gates, stained glass windows, improved lighting, etc—about ten such items. All of his requests had been promised before the 12 o’clock Mass had begun.
Rapid progress was made, and by the time of the Jubilee Celebrations the marble altar rails and bronze gates, and the pulpit with its handsome wooden canopy had been installed, replacing the wooden rails and pulpit which had done duty until that time. A small organ,
designed to accompany the choir of men and boys in the singing of plainchant, was placed in the sanctuary. The baptistry, then in the alcove which is now occupied by the shrine of St. John Ogilvie, was adorned with a mural depicting the Baptism of Our Lord in the Jordan. Improved lighting was introduced. It should perhaps be noted that the baptismal font itself was a gift from the school-children in the time of Miss McGinlay.
By 1930 when Bishop Graham took up his appointment, a new housing area had grown up in Polmadie and Govanhill, and the suburb of King’s Park was beginning to develop. Pressure on church and school increased. The population of the parish, already nearing 6000, was soon to surpass that figure. The roll of the school rose to over 1400, and additional accommodation had to be found in annexes in Annette Street and Polmadie Public Schools and in Batson Street School. The pressures were relieved, first when the new parish of Christ the King with about 1000 parishioners, 700 of whom were from Holy Cross, opened in 1934, and then when Holyrood School came into being in 1936. The 10 Advanced Division classes in Holy Cross School, along with a number of members of staff, were transferred into the new Senior Secondary, the first such Catholic school to be opened in Glasgow since the passing of the 1918 Act. It is appropriate to note at this point that this and other great advances in the provision of education for the Catholic children of the city owed much to the work of the many laymen who took part in public life, many of whom had associations with Holy Cross parish. Among them particular mention should be made of Lord Provost Sir Patrick Dollan, who resided in the parish.
1936 was a notable year. In the souvenir booklet issued then, Bishop Graham wrote: “This year is both a Jubilee and a Semi-Jubilee year for Holy Cross Mission; it is 50 years since this district was detached from St. John’s, Portugal Street and made a separate Mission under Father Link; it is 25 years since the present noble Church was opened under Very Reverend Canon O’Brien. Half a century is not a very long period in the history of a church, and there are people still here who remember it in its infant stages. But the Mission has grown prodigiously since then, and with a population of between five and six thousand, a beautiful House of God to worship in, flourishing organisations, and two
fine schools, it shows the growth of Catholicity in this quarter of the city.”
Something of the distinctive aura of the ’Thirties may be gleaned from the Annual Returns of the parish made during that period. Special collections, for example, were a notable feature. One that appeared annually’was to support Langbank Home, which provided a holiday break for the children of families in particularly poor circumstances: it is a reminder of the economic hardships of the times. In 1937, the year of the death of Canon O’Brien and also of the Coronation of King George VI, the SVDP organised a collection to aid those suffering from the war in Spain, and another for the families of Achill Islanders; in 1938 a collection was taken up for the Catholic Pavilion in the Empire Exhibition at Bellahouston Park—it stood almost on the very spot where His Holiness Pope John Paul II offered Mass in June 1982; and other collections were made for a Scottish Memorial Chapel in Lisieux, and to give assistance to a Jesuit priest in Estonia. It was a period of great activity in Catholic societies generally, among which the Catholic Truth Society, the Catholic Social Guild and the Catholic Young Men’s Society were prominent. The CYMS in Holy Cross, largely through the efforts of Father Patrick Clarke who was its Spiritual Director from 1930, was in a particularly flourishing state, as the list of its activities shows. There were two dramatic clubs, as has already been noted; the Society ran a vigorous and successful football section; it directed a successful campaign in support of the CTS, an organisation dear to the heart of the Bishop; it took part in the Retreat movement, organising annual retreats at Craighead (the first convener of retreats was Brother Peter Lennon); promoted a Daily Mass Crusade; and responded, shortly before 1938, to the call of Pope Pius XII for the development of a “well-instructed Lay Apostolate” by instituting a Study Circle convened by Bro. Louis Ward. The Society also provided guidance and leadership for the Boys* Guild, who like their seniors made their mark especially on the football field.
When in the late spring of 1938 the National Chaplain of the CYMS, Qinon Joseph Daniel, asked all branches to send two members to Lourdes with the National Pilgrimage, Holy Cross responded by setting up an entertainments committee to raise funds. A concert party was formed, which gave “wee concerts in Devon
Villa, with a bun and a cup of tea thrown in, all for 6d.” The Dixon Hall was engaged for bigger affairs, and with the assistance of the Mother Superior of the Convent of the Helpers of the Holy Souls, with which the parish had a longstanding and affectionate connection, repeat concerts were given in Brampton House as the hall attached to the convent was called. Many of the “Helpers” are remembered by the ladies of the parish, perhaps especially Mothers St. Raoul, Mary Charles, Juliette and St. John. They for their part gained recruits from the parish, among them Mary Shannon, Elizabeth Cairns and Rosemary Bayne, whose mother was active in the foundation of the Union of Catholic Mothers. The Holy Cross Branch of the UCM was one of the first to be established in the country.
In 1938, Father Patrick Clarke who had been the driving force behind the Pilgrimage Fund, was transferred to Largs. He was succeeded by Father James Black, who later was to be the first Bishop of Paisley. During his short stay the work of the CYMS was given an emphasis towards Catholic Action and Social Study. He in turn was followed by Father Gerald McDade, who carried the Society through the difficult war years.
The flow of young people from the parish to the priesthood and to the religious life continued
during the Thirties. For many practical reasons it is not possible to be certain that the record given here is complete. It is less easy for example to*trace those who have joined religious orders or gone to the mission field overseas than those who serve locally in the diocesan priesthood. In the case of women religious, the change of name adds to the difficulty. Nevertheless it seems proper that those whose names are known should be mentioned. Among them were Father Wilfrid Davis, born in Crosshill in 1905 and ordained in 1930; the Jesuit Fathers Leitrim, O’Neil (whose sister Marie entered a religious Order) and Francis Barnett, whose father had been active in the CYMS; Father Smith from Carfin Street who joined the White Fathers, and the brothers Barnabas and Osmund Mann, from Allison Street, who were Franciscan Friars. Amy Easdale left her home in the parish in 1935 to join the Sisters of the Company of Mary—as Sister Agnes Easdale she celebrated her Golden Jubilee last year—and was followed by Mary Agnes Kerr from Boyd Street, who is now Headmistress of that Order’s school in Cobham, Surrey. In 1939 Father Tom Healy was ordained; and it may be appropriate to mention at this point Father Peter Murphy ordained in 1943, who was greatly involved in Social Work and Child Care, and who died in 1969 at the age of 52.
War
Of all the sodalities in the parish, the Catholic Young Men’s Society was most affected by the outbreak of war. Its first meeting after the summer break of 1939 took place on the very Sunday on which Britain declared war. With the passing of time more and more of its members were called up into one or other of the various forms of national service until only a handful were left. Regular activities were replaced by work for a Comforts Fund. Money was raised by entertainments, whist drives, jumble sales and house-to-house collections, mainly through the assistance of the Women’s Guilds and the Children of Mary. As the war went on, funds became insufficient and materials unobtainable, but the attempts continued to send cigarettes, woollens, soap and anything else asked for to prisoners of war. In this activity Father McDade was seen to be “the champion of the absent.” Dr. J. C. Colvin, whose father Chevalier T. Colvin KSG had been a founder member and life-long Honorary President of the CYMS, acted as president and kept the Society going.
Although the parish territory was spared the worst impact of the destruction that befell other parts of Clydeside, it did not escape entirely unscathed. A major casualty in the area was the elegant Church of Scotland in Langside Road, a fine example of the work of one of Glasgow’s most distinguished architects, Alexander (“Greek”) Thomson, which was totally destroyed by enemy action.
During these years, the priestly staff of Holy Cross suffered many changes. By 1940 both Fathers Clarke and Black had been transferred; this was the year in which Father James McGrory, the “Apostle of Polmadie” died after a lengthy illness, and Father Gaetano Rossi, who had been ordained on 29 June 1939 at Bearsden, was appointed. The staff then consisted, in addition to the Bishop, of Fathers Jeremiah O’Kane, Gerald McDade—who was transferred in 1945—Patrick Sheridan and Gaetano Rossi.
Over the century of its existence a remarkable feature of Holy Cross has been its stability, to which a special contribution has been made by those of its people, both clerical and lay, who spent very long periods of their lives in the service of the parish community. Among the laity Miss Kampf who was associated with the school as
pupil, teacher and head teacher for almost half- a-century, and who continued to devote herself to the work of sacristan for years after her retiral in 1935, springs readily to mind; there were many others. Among the priests Father Patrick Sheridan was one of those who through his length of service had a special role in the preservation of continuity in the parochial experience. A native of County Cavan, he was one of the first of the Irish-bom priests to be ordained for the Glasgow Archdiocese. Having been appointed in 1928, his service bridged the period from Canon O’Brien’s time through the ’Thirties and the war years until 1948, when he left to open the new parish of St. Eunan’s in Clydebank. For much of this time he had responsibility for the spiritual guidance of the Women’s and Girls’ Guilds, which flourished under his kindly direction. Alongside these the Holy Family Confraternities for men and women, the Apostleship of Prayer, the Legion of Mary and the Union of Catholic Mothers also bloomed and the SVDP, the senior society of this parish, continued in its quiet way. In those years the link with the Convent of the “Helpers” was of special value to all of the women’s groups.
The effects of the Second World War on the people of the present and of succeeding generations has yet to be measured. One persistent reminder of the events of those days, for those who lived through that period, is the recollection of those parishioners who gave their lives in that cataclysm. Not all of their names are known; among those that have been recovered, through the patient work of Mr. John Gray, the following may be taken as representative of all the others who shared in their sacrifice:
James Carbrey, Thomas Connolly, Angus Gillies, Joseph Harty, Andrew Hegarty, —Irvine, John Kane, Desmond McAllister, Andrew McFadyen, Thomas McGill, Harold McVey, Leonard McVey, Peter Skeffington, James Sunters, George Thomson, John D. L. Kelly, John T. Loughery, Wm. McNicol, Alex. Spence, Ed. McAvoy, Andrew P. Stevenson, John K. Dixon. Jas. McClafferty, Dan. F. Donachy, Len Brown, John R. Jessiman.
The school log book records that on 8 May 1945 the school closed for two days in celebration of the ending of the war in Europe. A few short months later, on 15 August, the war in the Pacific came to its sudden and terrifying end, and a new era of world history had begun.
Peace
Changes among the priests continued during the immediate post-war years. Father (now Canon) Hugh Deery came in 1946, and Father Michael O’Keeffe two years later. Father O’Kane went to England in 1950, and is now in Newbury, as Miss McCrudden reports. Through her he has kept in touch with the parish. It was a time when the circumstances of daily living were in some ways as hard as and in some even harder than had been the case in wartime. Hostilities had ended, but there was no true peace. Young men were still being called up for national service. Consumer goods of all kinds, including fuel, were in short supply, and a strict rationing system was operating. The “Black Market” flourished, and honesty was out of fashion. His Lordship Bishop Graham was moved to comment on the condition of the times, in a manner which no doubt many of his parishioners had they known would have found surprising, but which nevertheless is truly representative of his idiosyncratic sense of humour. We are indebted to Monsignor Rossi for providing the following sample:
The Householder’s Lament
Paddy dear and did you hear the news that’s going round?
The coal we’ve got’s the vilest lot that’s ever yet been found.
There’s slates and stones and bricks and bones all mixed together through;
You need the hammer and the tongs and a good temper too.
met with Napper Coalman and he took me by the hand,
Saying, ’How goes your coal bing and how does it stand?*
’It’s the most disgraceful fuel that ever yet was seen, Five bob the bag, all mixed with slag, that never saw the screen.’
It was an eventful time for the Church in Glasgow. Archbishop Mackintosh, on whom had fallen the heavy task of implementing the 1918 Education Act, died in 1943, to be succeeded by Donald Campbell, Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, who like his predecessor was faced at once with the problems arising from a second, revolutionary Education Bill, which paved the way for comprehensive schooling.
In 1948, the new dioceses of Motherwell and Paisley were set up as suffragan sees of Glasgow; by the mid-1950s the re-development of the city had got under way, with a consequent upheaval in domestic living and in the organisation of parishes; and by the end of Archbishop Campbell’s episcopate the Second Vatican Council was nearing its close. Throughout this time Holy Cross parish was abundantly blessed in that Bishop Graham, who in 1944 had entered his seventieth year, had the constant and unwavering support of a series of devoted and energetic priests who placed themselves unreservedly at the service of the congregation.
The parish had a very special interest in the setting up of the new dioceses. Father Edward Douglas, who was consecrated on 21 April 1948 in the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Good Aid in Motherwell, was a native of Holy Cross and a former pupil of the parochial school. He had spent fifteen years on the staff of St. Mary’s College, Blairs before returning to Glasgow to take up parish work. The Douglases were, and are, well known in the parish. The Bishop’s father had given long years of service as a pass- keeper in the church, and his sister Marie still resides here. One of our respected senior parishioners, Mrs. Ponsonby, a contemporary of
the Bishop at Holy Cross school, believes that he was the second of the boys from the parish to be ordained for the secular priesthood. He was followed a few years later by his brother Robert, who was to become a Canon of the Motherwell diocese. Holy Cross also has a special link with the Diocese of Paisley, whose first Bishop, Monsignor James Black, served here as a curate from 1938 to 1939. This link became even closer when his successor Stephen McGill, who had been consecrated Bishop of Argyll and the Isles on 22 June 1960, was translated to Paisley on 25 July 1968. He too is a native of Holy Cross, and began his elementary education in the parochial school.
With the departure of Father McDade in 1945, the direction of the CYMS fell on Father Rossi. Many of its earlier activities were revived, and new ones introduced. A Literary Section, the aim of which was “the dispersal of knowledge so that we will appreciate what we believe and be able to give an account of our belief” was instituted; a drive for associate members was undertaken, and a strong sports section with interests in football, golf, table-tennis, billiards and badminton developed. Retreats to Craighead House were resumed, and in 1949 a party of the CYMS made a pilgrimage to Rome.
The map shows the site of the first Chapel-School in Daisy Street; Dixon Halls; the empty site where the church was erected in 1911; and the site of Bishop Maguire’s house in Crosshill Avenue, now occupied by a sheltered housing development. It also shows the first Cathkin Park, where Third Lanark F.C. began, and the first Hampden Park, home of Queen’s Park F.C.
Inevitably, the accelerating changes in the social environment had repercussions within the parish. Redevelopment of the areas around St. Francis’ and St. John’s resulted in increased pressure on Holy Cross church and school. By 1953 there were more than 1400 pupils, housed in three buildings at Daisy Street and Crompton Avenue.’The redevelopment process resulted in the disappearance of Dixon’s Blazes, and more regrettably of the golf course at Toryglen. Truly it’s an ill wind… A new housing area developed in the area formerly devoted to the “pursuit of the gutty’’, and in due course a new parish, St. Brigid’s at Toryglen, opened in 1957, bringing some relief, albeit temporary, to the hard-pressed staff at Dixon Avenue. The movement of population and the consequent re-organisation of the parochial structure which was such a feature of the episcopate of Archbishop Campbell was accompanied by much movement of priests. Father Hugh Cassidy came to the parish in 1951, and left in 1954; Father Norman Baird joined the staff in 1954, Father Michael Mooney in 1957 and Father Owen Gallagher in 1959.
On 22 December 1956 the parish celebrated the Sacerdotal Golden Jubilee of His Lordship Bishop Graham. It was the clergy who insisted on a fitting celebration, but the event itself was a sore trial to one of his humility and simplicity. An Address prepared by a committee of fifteen representing the sodalities and activities of the parish, recalled the high points of the Bishop’s life in the priesthood—his ordination in Rome during the Pontificate of St. Pius X; his zeal for the SVDP Society; his elevation to the episcopate by Pope Benedict XV; his stalwart defence of Catholic education and his care for the suffering, the needy and the bereaved.
A few years later, on 5 December 1959, Bishop Graham died in Bon Secours Hospital at the age of 85. He had been a bishop for forty-one years and a priest for fifty-three. For thirty of those years he had served Holy Cross parish, during which he left a lasting impression on the lives and minds of all who came into contact with him.
At the Solemn Requiem Mass, the panegyric was preached by Bishop Black. He recalled that Henry G. Graham was born in Maxton, Roxburghshire on 8 March 1874, the youngest of 5 sons in the family of 10 children of the local Church of Scotland Minister; went to school in Kelso; proceeded to the University of St. Andrews before he was 16 years of age, gaining
his M.A. degree in 1893, and B.D. in 1896; for the next academic year lectured at the University in Hebrew and Oriental Studies, and in 1897 was licensed as a minister of the Church of Scotland.
Bishop Black concluded his address as follows.
“He was a controversial figure in the noblest sense of the word, that is, he waged war for Truth and Justice, and suffered much obloquy and persecution in the process … A most humble man, one who shrank from praise. . . . “It behoveth a bishop to be blameless’* (quoting St. Paul to Timothy) a terrifying requirement: but as far as human frailty will allow, it was realised in Henry Grey Graham.” (Scottish Catholic Directory 1960).
Monsignor Rossi, whose service in Holy Cross covered a period of twenty-two years, has this to say about the Bishop: “Bishop Graham gave a small picture of his character when he published a little pamphlet about his conversion entitled “From the Kirk to the Catholic Church”. … He published a number of pamphlets of historical value . . . and contributed to magazines and papers on a range of topics … He had a great love of the “Doric”, an intense love of Scotland, registering in hotels as Scot, and was an outstanding supporter of the cause of Irish Unity. He stood on a platform in support of Bishop Mannix when he visited Britain … he had a great sense of humour.”
Monsignor McEwan also mentions the bishop’s sense of humour—“a unique blend of humour and scrupulosity” and his love of the “Doric”, all of which can be said to be illustrated by the following verse, for which we are again indebted to Monsignor Rossi.
Lament for a Tooth (1942)
Auld freen’ wha in my days of youth Didst prove thyself a goodly tooth And in my years of manhood power Didst help me nice things to devour.
Alas! that with advancing year The tie that binds to dentist’s chair Maun sever—no’ wi’oot a pang;
But better far for me tae gang Wi’oot ye than tae be connectit Tae a tooth that has sae lang neglectit Its foremost duty tae the jaw That houses ye. Nae mair ye’ll gnaw The face of him that was yer maister.
But tak’ yer leave, and a’ the faster,
For freen’ tae me ye canna be,
But turned to be an enemy.
Father Owen Gallagher confirms that there are no other surviving examples of the Bishop’s versifications, which had filled a jotter. Before his death he had given instructions that they be destroyed, as unbecoming to episcopal dignity.
In his approach to his pastoral duties the Bishop followed two main lines of action: namely, the enhancing of liturgical practice, and house visitation. Liturgical rules had to be strictly observed, the interior of the church kept clean and comfortable and the vestments always in good order. Altar boys had to be punctual, in black soutane (red on Sundays), black socks and sand-shoes, and white surplice. A choir of men and boys, similarly attired, as was the organist, sat in the sanctuary. Their repertoire included a number of Gregorian Masses, and anthems, and the Holy Week services, all of course in Latin. They were present at 12 noon on Sundays and at Evening Devotions. Their training was supervised by Miss Mary Wilson, whom the Bishop had sent to France for a course on plainchant, so that she could teach liturgical music in the proper way. The decoration of the church was treated as an art, carried out by Miss Kampf. Her notable artistic gifts were deployed in a variety of ways—in needlework, painting and penmanship, all to the beautification of the church and altar.
His second principle was house visitation, on the basis that “a house-going clergyman means a church-going people.” He expected his curates to take a lead from him, but left each to deal with his own district, which was changed on a rota basis system every five or six years. He was Spiritual Director of the SVDP, and attended its meeting every Sunday after the 12 noon Mass. Meetings then were held in a room behind the church in Belleisle Place, where the Bishop might have been seen becoming acquainted with some of the Society’s “customers.”
To him goes the credit for the embellishment of the interior of the church. The marble pulpit and altar rails were installed by him in preparation for the Golden Jubilee of the parish, which coincided with the Silver Jubilee of the church building. He also installed the stained glass windows above the gallery which depict the Exaltation of the Cross. His plans for the completion of the sanctuary were halted by the outbreak of the Second World War, and inhibited by the dramatic changes of the postwar years.
In the time of Bishop Graham the flow of young men and women from the parish to the priesthood and the religious life, which was already a long-established feature of parochial life, continued. Abbot Donald McGlynn of Nunraw, whose brother is also a monk, notes that at least nine priests came from families domiciled in Myrtle Park. He names among them Bishop John Mone and his brother William, and their neighbours Justinian McGread a Passionist Father and his brother Thomas, a priest of the Galloway diocese. He recalls also from Queen Mary Avenue, Monsignor Francis and Father Joseph Coyle. To these can be added Monsignor Hugh McEwan and his brother Daniel; Father Andrew Tolan; Father John Boyle and his brother Peter, a Salesian; Father Stephen Collins of the White Fathers; Fathers Frank and Jack, his brothers, and Father Charles Collins, not related to these three; and Fathers Lawrence Jamieson, Michael McCabe and Edward Higgins; among the girls who entered Religious Orders around this time can be mentioned the five sisters of the McGlynn family—Noreen, Mary, Josephine, Patricia and Christine, all of whom joined the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, as did Kathleen Cassidy and Kathleen and Brenda Brennan. The list continues with Betty Telford, Rosaline Quail, Marie McGill, (niece of Bishop Stephen McGill), recently elected Abbess General of the Sisters of St. Clare, Stephanie and Cecily Dunn, Millie Garland, Monica Jamieson, now Abbess of Stanbrook Abbey, Patricia Reynolds, Sisters Angela McDonald and Marie Boyle of the Order of St. Joseph of Cluny and Doreen Grant SND, who was awarded the CBE for her work with the Social Services. Not to be forgotten are two ladies by the name of Anna Costello, aunt and niece, both members of the Franciscan Order, of whom one, Sister Imelda, is now in charge of the Franciscan Convent in Dixon Avenue. The list is so long that it seems inevitable that there must be others who have not been traced.
Abbot Donald, referring to a recent meeting of the Union of Monastic Superiors of the British Isles held at Hawkestone, recounts that among the participants there were two Scots, both from Dixon Road and Holyrood School; one was elected “chairperson” and the other “vice- chairperson” of that extremely English organisation. Needless to say, the two were himself and Sister Joanna (Monica) Jamieson.
Again to quote Abbot Donald, many of these priests and religious “owed much of their vocation to the saintly Bishop Grey Graham, the five curates, the thriving sodalities of the late ’forties and ’fifties, and not least the impressive example of so many good teachers. I remember with gratitude the enlisting of members for the Knights of the Blessed Sacrament. . . We were blessed in our time with having a very deep and fervent spirit … in Holy Cross parish. There are still many of the older generation who witnessed the growth of that spirit …”
The passing of Bishop Graham indeed marked the end of an epoch, and it is fitting to close this chapter by recounting some memories of him from colleagues who knew him well. First, Monsignor McEwan: “In every aspect of his priesthood the Bishop pursued high, unwavering standards of perfection . . . only the best was good enough for the service of souls and the ornamentation of the church. He was unflagging in his exactness, sparing neither the negligences of altar boys nor the foibles of venerable clergymen . . . The subject of money was never raised in the pulpit . . . and the generosity of parishioners was unfailing … In stark contrast
to his care for the church . . . was his severity, even parsimony, with himself . . . The only exercise in which he excelled was in threading the busy streets of his parish, book in one hand, umbrella in the other. He tended to regard the social side of parish life … as largely irrelevant … He was a stickler for punctuality. Pocket watch in hand, he would stand at the church door on Sundays in silent rebuke of habitual latecomers … He was a Scottish patriot to the core … an assiduous frequenter of second-hand bookshops . . . even the most minute prescriptions of Church Law were faithfully observed . . . All his qualities were mellowed by humility and simplicity, his travail lightened by humour.”
Father Owen Gallagher writes: “I arrived as a fifth curate of Bishop Graham in the first year of my priesthood and what was to be the last of his. Naturally I had heard of Bishop Graham . . . although he was an old man he was still a force to be reckoned with, and even in his old age had a tremendous influence on the priests as well as on the parish. He demanded an impossible standard from himself, and overlooked none of the shortcomings he found
in me. He was indeed a great influence on my life, as he had been on generations of priests before me. He was the exemplary “Father Figure” in the parish, and the people idolised him.”
In a more general review of ‘the period. Monsignor McEwan had this to say:
“My memories of Holy Cross go back to the ‘thirties and ‘forties … to the heyday of the Tridentine restoration and counter-reform. The spiritual flavour of the time was largely determined by the strict eucharistic fast from midnight . . . which meant that the popular Masses for communicants were the early Sunday Masses, at 8 and 9 . . . There was a pious devotion . . . among the committed of attending a later and second Mass, at 11.30 or 12—the Missa Cantata. . . . Bishop Graham laboured successfully to build up a male voice plainsong choir. This was conducted from the front bench of the church by Miss Cissie Wilson who was not allowed to set foot in the sacrosanct area of the sanctuary. . . . The chief event of Sunday evening . . . was Devotions. This consisted of the recitation of the Rosary (with the Gloria Patri sung at the end of every decade), a homily by the Bishop or one of the curates, and Benediction. Even in those golden days the clergy used to complain about the poor attendance, even though the church was more than half full . . . Those were the years of the confraternities of men and women, meeting once or twice a month. The confraternity was meant to implement the call by St. Pius X … for frequent and daily communion. Curates in those days used to vie with one another in pushing up attendances at the monthly communion . . . Many years later I learned from an old lady in St. Margaret’s of a curate who had boarded the tram driven by her father in Paisley Road to ask why he had not been to the Confraternity communion on the Sunday … To fill in a rounded picture of parish life in those days we must recall the busy scene of Saturday evening confessions, with the clergy sitting in the confessionals for two or three hours. There was also the occasional mission—one week for men, one week for women . . . preached with fiery zeal in the light of judgement and the last things . . . and accompanied by a thorough visitation of homes … In the ‘thirties there were occasional visits from his retirement home in Rothesay, of Canon O’Brien … I remember how delighted we all were as altar boys when the venerable Canon , in full pontificals (we called him Santa Claus), slept quietly through the Christmas midnight Mass even though there had been a power failure.
Those were the years when we knew about mixed marriages simply because there was confetti on the pavement outside the chapel house. Mixed marriage couples were not allowed to exit through the main
door of the church, where Bishop Graham used to have a prominent notice—the throwing of confetti or rice or other pagan customs is not permitted in this church . . . religious feelings were much more bitter in those days and more often than not a mixed marriage meant a victory for one church or the other. Matters have improved in our times largely due to the insistence of the Second Vatican Council on ecumenism but also because of the growing indifference of people to religion … A prominent figure in parish life in those days was Miss Kampf . . . from her retirement home in Clarkston she used to come every day to the church to work as sacristan and to bring the liturgical furnishings to the level of perfection set by the Bishop. The Bishop’s hat and coat might bear manifest signs of wear and tear, but nothing was stinted in the proper embellishment of the church.
Little did we realise that as the Bishop’s long life drew to a close his passing marked the end of an era. One of the last duties I performed for him as unofficial chaplain . . . was to draw up a letter intimating his inability because of poor health to attend the forthcoming Second Vatican Council. The Tridentine era was over.” . . .
A New Era The post-Tridentine epoch was ushered in by the election on 25 January 1959 of Pope John XXIII. Only ninety days later came the announcement of his plan to call a General Council, which opened after three and a half years of intensive preparation on 11 October 1962. Less than a year later Pope John was dead. The work of the Council was carried on by Pope Paul VI, who presided at its closure on 8 December 1964.
These events form the backdrop to Father Wycherley’s time as parish priest of Holy Cross. When he was appointed, on 12 February 1960, the preparations for the Council were well under way; and when he died, suddenly, on 31 December 1964, it had ended only a few short weeks before.
He came to Holy Cross from St. Anthony’s Govan, where he had been parish priest for five years. In his new appointment he found himself in the delicate and probably unique position of following in the footsteps of two outstanding parish priests who between them had governed the parish for seventy years. The population was over 8,000 and still increasing, and would top 10,000 by 1964. He was fortunate in having the assistance of Father (now Monsignor Canon) Rossi, who had been in Crosshill since 1940 and who provided the element of continuity within
the parish; and also Fathers Michael O’Keeffe, Norman Baird, Michael Mooney, and the “fifth curate” Owen Gallagher, who had been appointed on 12 April 1959.
The redevelopment of the congested areas of the city was then under way. Demolition was beginning to create vast vacuums in the once familiar streets around St. Francis’ and St. John’s churches, and population from there was being overspilled towards Holy Cross. The pressure was showing also in the schools—with 1200 primary and 1800 secondary pupils, both Holy Cross and Holyrood were bursting at the seams. Changes of a different order were also at work within the community at large. In an increasingly affluent society, social habits were changing rapidly, spurred by the spread of television, a comparatively recent phenomenon, and the expanding activities of the communications media in general. Victorian patterns of family life were under threat. Movements of population resulted in the breaking down of older parish communities and the setting up of new ones, one result of which for Holy Cross was the transfer of Father O’Keeffe, whose quiet presence over a period of twelve years had endeared him to the parish. His place was filled by Father Sewards.
Father Wycherley at once set about implementing Bishop Graham’s plans for the
beautification of the church, while keeping in mind the forthcoming Golden Jubilee of the building, due in 1961. He installed the marble floor in the sanctuary, incorporating in it two magnificent decorative insets—one, on the left, showing the Bishop’s coat-of-arms, consisting of a field of ermine with a row of pilgrims’ scallops and two St. Andrew’s Crosses, celebrating his time at St. Andrews University and his experience as Bishop Auxiliary in the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh; and the other, a symbolic representation of the idea of the Holy Cross using the ancient symbols of the anchor and the fish. The embellishment of the sanctuary was completed with the installation in the apse at the back of the altar of a mosaic depicting Christ Triumphant with the Cross, and by the Cross reigning over the world. The two letters which appear beside the figure of Our Lord are the monogram of the Emperor Constantine, used by him on his battle pennants. They are the first two letters of the Greek form of Christos (XPISTOS) meaning Christ the Anointed One. This mosaic was made in Venice. Outside the church, an electric blanket was placed underneath the steps and patio, to reduce the risk of ice in winter.
Once the major work of reconstruction was completed, Father Wycherley had the church painted, and with the hard-working support of
a magnificent cross-section of the parish community, all was in readiness for its Solemn Consecration on 14 September 1961, the Titular Feast of the parish. This was an historic occasion. The consecration was carried out by the Archbishop, the Most Rev. Donald A. Campbell. Among the large number of church dignitaries and priests present were the Rt. Rev. James Black, Bishop of Paisley, and Rt. Rev. James Ward, Bishop of Sita, who accompanied the Archbishop at the consecration. As many parishioners will remember. Archbishop Campbell died while on pilgrimage at Lourdes, in July 1963. He was succeeded by James D. Scanlan, Bishop of Motherwell, who was a native of Glasgow, the second to be appointed to this high office.
Attention then turned to Devon Villa. The building, originally used as a presbytery, had for many years been pressed into use as a church hall. It was in poor condition, and was demolished to make way for a new hall on the same site. This made ingenious use of the natural contours of the ground, and was ready for occupancy by 1964. In the interim Father Sewards had left, in 1962, for service on the foreign missions: Father David Currie had taken his place; and the long-serving Father Rossi had taken up an appointment as parish priest of the historic parish of St. Joseph’s in North Woodside Road.
The formal opening of the new hall was one of the first public events graced by Archbishop Scanlan after his transfer from Motherwell to Glasgow. The occasion was marked by a Grand Concert, recalled by Bob Horn in these words: “The lower hall was reserved for the Boys* Guild doing excerpts from “Oliver”, the downstairs store room for the instruments of the Holyrood orchestra, the women’s cloakroom for the Girls’ Guild Black and White Minstrels, a committee room for Lavelle the Irish magician who clearly needed privacy, and others for various “pop” musicians and individual mature artistes. The Archbishop enjoyed himself hugely . . . congratulated everybody and threatenened to sing . . . kicked a ball about with Fagin’s gang, complimenting them on their Cockney accents, which as a former Consultor in Westminster he was well qualified to judge . . . and departed in good humour . . . The whole evening was brought to a close with a mini fireworks display in the garden.”
Father Wycherley’s tenure of office was short, in stark contrast to those of his two immediate predecessors. It is well to note here that his contribution to the life of the parish was not confined to those items already mentioned. As a member of the staff of the seminary at Bearsden for some fifteen years, he had an abiding interest in the spiritual formation of young people. He organised a retreat at Coodham for about ISO senior secondary pupils. From this beginning he went on to try to extend the ongoing relationship between Holyrood School and all the priests of the parish with a view to making their expertise as counsellors as fully available as possible to pupils at the upper end of the school. Outwith the parish he had given devoted service on the Archdiocesan Finance Board, of which he was a Trustee, and had been a member of the Matrimonial Tribunal. His endeavours were cut short by his sudden death on 31 December 1964, in the sixtieth year of his age and thirty-fifth of his priesthood. His funeral, to St. Peter’s Cemetery, Dalbeth, took place on S January 1965.
Daughter Parish Father Wycherley’s successor as parish priest was the Right Reverend Bishop James Ward, a senior prelate who already carried heavy administrative responsibilities. From 1948 onwards he had been Vicar General and Treasurer of the Archdiocese and in 1960 was consecrated Bishop of Sita and made Auxiliary to Archbishop Campbell.
On 19 March 1965, only a month after the arrival of the new parish priest, Father Norman Baird died at the age of thirty-nine. He had spent all of the eleven years of his priestly life in Holy Cross, and his early death sent a shock wave through the entire parish. He was born in Dunfermline into a family which contained Scottish and Ulster presbyterian elements in its antecedents, as well as French and Irish Catholic strains. Much of his early life had been spent in England. In 1940 the family returned to Scotland
and he was sent to complete his education at the Abbey School, Fort Augustus. From 1944-47 he served as a navigator with the R.A.F., before proceeding to St. Peter’s Cardross and Rome, where he was ordained on 5 July 1953. During his time in Rome he developed a keen interest in the excavations that were being carried out under the Vatican Basilica, and published a monogram entitled “The Tomb of St. Peter”. His death occurred on St. Joseph’s Day, 1965, and he was buried from Holy Cross. The Requiem Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Scanlan, Father Michael Mooney and Father Daniel McEwan. The obituary notice in the Scottish Catholic Directory refers to his deep instinctive sympathy with people of all types and classes and to his unfailing courtesy. Even in the last days of his illness he was punctilious in answering cards and letters. Although his cast of mind was academic, and he carried a persistent shyness with him, “few could excel him in the rare gift of communicating with children.”
The next nine years were to be years of change in the parish, as they were in the universal Church. Here they began with the transfer to St. Saviour’s in Govan of Father David Currie, a nephew of Bishop Ward, and the arrival of Fathers Jeremiah Carroll and Charles Kane. Along with the Bishop the parish now had four curates—Fathers Mooney, Gallagher, Carroll and Kane—to cope with the work stemming from a congregation of around 10,000 people. Bishop Ward soon decided that this situation called for radical change and set about making arrangements to open three new parishes in the area.
The general movement of population was having its effect on neighbouring areas, and in particular, the influx of Catholic families into Pollokshaws and Kinning Park was creating difficulties of accommodation and administration in these districts. Bishop Ward entered into negotiations with the Trustees of the Albert Drive Church, which had been vacated, and obtained possession of it in the summer of 1965. A new parish of St. Albert the Great was set up, and in September 1965 Father Patrick J. Brady was appointed as its first parish priest. The first Mass was celebrated on 8 October by Bishop Ward. In his address he expressed the appreciation of the Archdiocese of Glasgow for the courtesy shown by the authorities of the Church of Scotland in the negotiations over the sale of the property. It is a matter of some interest to us that the original church, called the Stockwell Free Church, stood at the corner of Howard Street and Ropework Lane, near to St. Andrew’s Cathedral, and that the congregation there acquired the site in Pollokshields in October 1885 almost coincidentally with the foundation of Holy Cross. The name was changed to Albert Drive Church in 1929.
The new parish of St. Albert the Great was bounded by Maxwell Drive, Titwood Road, Sherbrooke Avenue and Pollokshaws Road, along which its boundary coincided with that of Holy Cross. There was in consequence a slight reduction in the territory and population of Holy Cross, but this had little effect on the overcrowding and accommodation problems. A further initiative was required, which took the form of the acquisition of the Majestic Cinema in Inglefield Street, obtained for the sum of £8000 and presented as a gift from Holy Cross to be a temporary Mass Centre for a new parish of Our Lady of Consolation. This was founded
in September 1966, when Father Frederick Rawlings from Our Lady and St. Margaret’s Kinning Park was appointed parish priest. “The first sight of the temporary Mass Centre was enough to daunt the stoutest of hearts . . . The roof was repaired, the rubble cleared, plumbing set aright, the electric system re-wired, heating installed and the bare brick walls panelled and painted. As if by magic a spacious sanctuary appeared with beautiful drape curtains of Our Lady’s colours. Chairs and benches were bought and procured, confessionals built, a sacristy and baptistry installed … we had a church . . . erected by the valiant work of the people themselves’’.
The boundaries of this new parish enclosed a relatively small but densely populated area. Within it there were at the outset about 4,420 Catholic people. The entire territory bounded by Calder Street in the south, Aikenhead Road to the east and north and Pollokshaws Road to the west, was formerly part of Holy Cross, so that Our Lady of Consolation can truly be described as a daughter parish. In the beginning four Masses were celebrated each Sunday, at 9, 10, 11 and 12 noon, but within a few weeks an evening Mass was added at 5 p.m. … a sure indication that a new parish was necessary in Govanhill. The first Mass was celebrated by Bishop Ward on 25 September 1966, and on 4 December the statue of Our Lady of Consolation was unveiled. This was a gift from the Sisters of Stanbrook Abbey who also are under the protection of Our Lady of Consolation. In the fullness of time this link has been reinforced by the election as Superior at Stanbrook of Sister Joanna Jamieson. As has already been noted, she is a native of Holy Cross.
Plans for a permanent church were ready for implementation by 1969. The problem was to find a new temporary abode while the old Mass Centre was demolished and the new church erected on the site. “A lease was obtained of the Calder Cinema. Once again the people rallied. The men became painters, joiners, plumbers, electricians, heating engineers, scaffolders . . . The women scrubbed, swept and shampooed at all hours of the day. It was a herculean task, for the building had lain empty for years. Holy Mass was offered in the new centre at midnight on Christmas. A most memorable sight was seeing the people, after the last Mass celebrated in Inglefield Street, carrying the chairs they used and placing them in the new centre at Calder
Street … a significant gesture . . . continuity had not been broken. . . The new Liturgy of the Mass was celebrated during Lent and the lay-out of the temporary church lent itself very much to its fulfilment and understanding.
Thursday 12 November 1970. . . laying of the Foundation Stone . . . The rain came pouring down … as the roof was not yet complete, the interior of the church was semi-flooded. It was cold, and there was no glass in the windows . . . Nevertheless the ceremony went on with great dignity and joy. . . Some months later there was a transformation, when Bishop Ward administered the Sacrament of Confirmation in the same building… On 15 September 1971 the Archbishop ordained Father Neil Gallagher to the priesthood. It was a most auspicious start.” During 1966 the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in Langside Avenue at Deanston Drive had fallen vacant and been acquired by the Archdiocese. Mass was celebrated there for the first time in October of that year by Provost Joseph Daniel, parish priest of St. Mary’s Pollokshaws. He it was who -first became interested in obtaining the building when it became known that the congregation would be merged with that of Shawlands Old Church. Father Desmond Gunning, formerly a curate at St. Patrick’s Dumbarton, was appointed parish priest, and the church was solemnly re-opened on 23 April 1968. At the official opening ceremony, at which the Rev. James Caldwell, the last U.P. minister to hold office there, was present among the guests, Archbishop Scanlan referred in his address to the fact that “this church has already been hallowed by the prayers of our fellow-Christians.”
The occasion is commemorated by a wall- plaque which carries the following inscription:
“This temple erected by the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland was amicably acquired by the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1966. After extensive renovation by the Rev. Desmond Gunning, the first Parish Priest, it was solemnly re-opened under the title of St. Helen by the Most Reverend James Donald Scanlan, DD, DCL, BL, Archbishop, on April 23 1968.
Not to us, Lord, not to us.
But to Thy Name give the glory.”
Although as a consequence of these developments the congregation at Holy Cross was reduced to around 6000 and the pressure on the presbytery to that extent relieved, the level of activity remained very high. The established
pattern of Sunday Masses, at 8, 9, 10 for children, 11 and 12 (Cantata) continued: the first indications of changes to come were shown by the introduction of an evening Mass on Sundays at 8 p.m., and on weekdays at 6 p.m. Evening Devotions continued on Sundays at 6.30 p.m. and on Holidays of Obligation there were two evening Masses. The Children’s Mass, so long a feature of parochial life throughout the Archdiocese, was itself showing signs of change. The notion that parents and children should attend Mass together as a family group had been growing in strength for some time, and the composition of the congregation at the 10 o’clock Mass slowly altered. As the renewal movement which stemmed from the insights of the Second Vatican Council gathered momentum, developments and adjustments were called for in every parish. At an early stage the use of the vernacular in the liturgy made a tentative beginning, and increased participation by the people in the liturgical action was encouraged by the emphasis on dialogue.
In 1970 Father Charles Kane became chaplain to Notre Dame College in succession to Monsignor Gillespie, and was replaced by Father Joseph Mills, ordained in 1967.
It is appropriate at this point to pay tribute to the senior society of the parish, which had carried on throughout the post-war period. SVDP meetings used to be held in the Boxing Club rooms in Belleisle Place, out of the public eye. In the days before the land around Toryglen was built up, a procession of homeless men who “slept rough” on the warm slag from Dixon’s Blazes which used to be deposited at the Moll’s Mire, could be seen queueing outside the door of the meeting-place on a Sunday morning. Sometimes Bishop Graham would be seen among them, making their acquaintance. At that time the membership of the Society was entirely male, as its constitution demanded, and as a consequence help was given only through men to the men-folk of families in need. To extend the work to women in need of help some ladies of the parish formed a Guild of St. Elizabeth. Miss Murray, sister of Dan a long-standing member of the Society, was a leading figure in this work.
Clearly it is impossible to call to mind the names of all those who in the course of a hundred years gave of their time and energy to the noble work of the SVDP—not only because of the number involved, but also because the
essentially unobtrusive way in which the work was carried out, in the true spirit of the Gospel, meant that many of those names are not available. Those that are, serve as a reminder of the others, and draw attention to the continuity of effort which providentially has been possible in Holy Cross. Among the stalwarts who built on the solid foundations laid by earlier generations can be mentioned John Glen, Tom Flynn, Dan Murray, John McKee, Pat McVey, Pat Gilbride, Andrew McElhinney and those who now inherit their mantle, among them John Gray, Donald Boyd, Willie McHugh recently deceased, and Tom Tawsney.
The Catholic Parish Magazine and Journal, a monthly publication pre-dating Flourish, conveys well the vitality of Holy Cross during these years. Among its active groups, apart from the SVDP, were the Women’s Holy Family Sodality, the Catholic Men’s Society, Boys* and Girls* Guilds, Children of Mary, Apostleship of Prayer, Guild of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Girl Guides and Boy Scouts and cubs, the Catholic Women’s League and the Union of Catholic Mothers. News of the latter figured prominently in every issue. Among the functions which took place every week in the Hall were a Social Club for Youth on Sundays, Whist drive on Tuesdays, a Senior Citizens night on Fridays, and Whist Drive and Dance on Saturdays. In addition, the magazine provided a useful record of matters of general interest to the parish. In February 1970 for example it recorded that Rt. Rev. Dom Donald McGlynn, born in Myrtle Park and educated at Holyrood School, had become the second abbot of Sancta Maria Abbey Nunraw since the return of the Cistercians to Scotland in 1946. The Christmas number noted the death of Dr. Mary Devine, the first president of the Union of Catholic Mothers, who had played a prominent part in Catholic affairs in Scotland for over forty years. It also noted that the UCM celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 1972, with a dance held in the City Chambers. The programme lists eight diocesan past presidents, of whom four, Mrs. Bayne, Mrs. Brennan, Mrs. Allan and Dr. Devine had been members of the Holy Cross Branch. At different times Mrs. Bayne, Mrs. Allan and Dr. Devine occupied the position of National President. The local branch gave substantial support to a multitude of worthy causes, including the Spina-Bifida Association, the St. Margaret of Scotland Adoption Society and the anti-abortion movement.
1972 was also the year when the parish went underground—to join with the people of Our Lady of Consolation in a social evening arranged by Father Rawlings. This venture was something of an experiment, in that it was held in the underground car-park. It was an outstanding success.
The following year we had yet again to endure a sudden bereavement. On Mission Sunday, 21 October 1973, Bishop Ward was taken ill in the presbytery when getting ready for Mass, and died shortly afterwards. In his last moments he had the comfort of the sacraments, and the presence of the priests of the parish, praying with him. The principal celebrant at his Requiem Mass on 25 October, was Cardinal Gordon Gray, and Archbishop Scanlan and the Apostolic Delegate, the Most Rev. Bruno Heim were present, along with more than 300 priests. So great were the crowds that hundreds of people were unable to get into the church. Bishop Ward was buried at St. Peter’s cemetery, Dalbeth. He had been parish priest of Holy Cross for eight years.
Father Owen Gallagher who was in a unique position to observe the changes in the parish throughout a quarter of a century from 1959, writes: “I have never met a harder worker than Bishop Ward . . . Although he attended the Vatican Council, he was by instinct reactionary and reluctant to change the old ways, and yet he did bring about changes in a gradual way, giving the minimum annoyance … He made the people proud to be members of Holy Cross Parish and gave the priests such an example of untiring dedication to the Church that we could not but follow his example.”
Although the changes in the parochial territory had reduced the population to about 5,500, it did not stabilise there; and by the time Bishop Ward’s successor Monsignor Gillespie was appointed there were were again over 6000 in the congregation. Although the flow of young people into the priesthood and the religious life during the “Swinging Sixties” and the “Sobering Seventies” showed some decline from the previous high level, there can be mentioned among those who became priests James Lafferty, ordained in 1961, now stationed at St. Martin’s Castlemilk; Joseph Alexander, ordained in 1962, who is now working in the Paisley diocese; James F. Walsh, also ordained in 1962, who for ten years before his death in 1977 at the age of 39 had been Lecturer in Church History at St. Peter’s College, Cardross; John Newman
ordained in 1964, who became an Army Chaplain in 1972 and within that same year died tragically in a car accident at Neunstadt in Germany; Phelim McGowan from Myrtle Park, who followed his cousin Felix into the Society of Jesus; Father James Sweeney ordained for the Passionists in 1968; his brother Anthony who became a secular in 1974; Francis Kennedy, a former dux of Holyrood School, who was ordained in 1970 by Bishop Ward in Holy Cross
Church, and who, after working as a chaplain in industry within the Archdiocese, is now serving in South America; and the last to be mentioned here, Peter Sweeney, ordained also in Holy Cross by Archbishop T. J. Winning in June 1975.
Change
When Monsignor John Gillespie was appointed to Holy Cross Parish, he was already a senior priest who carried heavy administrative responsibilities elsewhere in the Archdiocese. He had succeeded Bishop Ward as Vicar General, and also as Chairman of the Board of Governors of Notre Dame College of Education. He did not come to the parish as a complete stranger. A few years before he had accepted an invitation from the local branch of the Union of Catholic Mothers to address them on the subject of the St. Margaret of Scotland Adoption Society, whose work was very close to his heart. Besides, he had been for eleven years from 1959 chaplain to Notre Dame College, and had made the
acquaintance among the students of many who would become his future parishioners.
The liturgical changes arising from the Vatican Council demanded that alterations be made in the arrangement of the sanctuary. This was a task to which he applied himself with relish. He opened up the sanctuary by removing the great bronze gates, and brought the altar table forward; the marble pulpit was dismantled and the material was used to construct the two matching ambos which stand on either side of the sanctuary. He then gave long consideration to the question of obtaining an organ of a scale and quality that would enhance the dignity of the interior of the church and divine service, and which could be fitted into the gallery. In due time all the problems were solved by the acquisition of a magnificent instrument built in 1895 by Messrs. Forster and Andrews of Hull for Alva Parish Church. It had been cleaned by the same firm in 1927, but thereafter no major work had been carried out until now. The pipes—there are 1352 of them ranging in size from the largest at 16 feet to the smallest at one quarter of an inch—and the mechanism were choked with dirt and grit, in some places more than an inch deep. Because of the restricted space in the gallery a new electric action had to be fitted and the organ case-work altered to suit the building. The cleaning and rebuilding was a mammoth task, which was completed by April 1983. On the 29 of that month. Archbishop Winning blessed and dedicated the organ at an inaugural recital given by Joseph Cullen,, FRCO, organist at St. Andrew’s Cathedral.
From the installation of the first pipe-organ in the sanctuary in the time of Bishop Graham, Holy Cross had been fortunate in having organists available from within the ranks of the parishioners themselves, among them in the early days John Kerr and those long-serving stalwarts Eddie McGuire and Pat Skeffington. For many years, too, the late Lucy Meechan gave devoted service in spite of having to be content with the old harmonium. When in the fullness of time it was seen fit that women be allowed to enter the sanctuary, Margaret Hegarty, Marie Lowry and Nora FitzPatrick were enabled to place their musical skill and talents at the service of the community. The present team includes Paul O’Kane, Bob McTaggart and Ian McLean.
In bringing about these changes, Monsignor’s chief objective was to provide for the increased involvement of the people in the life and liturgy
of the Church. To that end he also instituted a parish council, and took the first steps to introduce lay readers and Special Ministers of the Eucharist.
During these years changes in the staff of priests were more than usually frequent. Father Joseph Mills was transferred in 1975, and Father Michael Conroy came that year, remaining with us for only about a year; Father Jeremiah Carroll left to become parish priest of St. Alphonsus’, and was succeeded as senior curate by the long-serving Father Owen Gallagher; Father David Brown arrived in 1977 and remained for what was becoming an unusually lengthy period of five years of service to the parish before departing; Father Brian Reilly came in 1980, and left in 1982 to join the staff of St. Peter’s College; Father Gerard McKay, now parish priest at Taynuilt in the Argyll diocese, assisted at Holy Cross from 1981 till 1982; Father Paul Kiemey, who also went to join the seminary staff, came and went in 1983; Father Peter Gallacher arrived from Rome towards the end of 1982, and Father Stephen Holland a few months later in 1983.
On 24 June 1983, the Feast of St. John the Baptist, the parish joyfully celebrated the Silver Jubilee in the priesthood of Father Owen Gallagher. Surprisingly for one of his mercurial style, twenty-four of these years had been spent in Holy Cross.
It was a splendid liturgical and parochial occasion. A score of priests—former curates in or natives of the parish—concelebrated along with Father Owen, in the presence of his mother and close relatives and friends, and Sister Maire gave one of the readings. The celebrations had begun on 22 June with a splendid concert in the Couper Institute on an evening of beautiful June weather.
On May 24 1984 Monsignor Gillespie was taken suddenly ill at home in the presbytery. He was fully conscious when he asked to receive the Last Rites, and died on admission to the Victoria Infirmary. There was a vast turn-out of priests, seminarians and parishioners for the Requiem on 26 May, concelebrated by Archbishop Winning, Bishops Conti, Renfrew, Devine, Rowland (Franciscan from South Africa), together with the many priests in the sanctuary and a larger number in the nave of the church. All present found this a moving and very beautiful ceremony. It would not have been a source of annoyance to Monsignor Gillespie that traffic related to the Scotland-England football match was building up as the cortege left Dixon Avenue. He had spent his last evening visiting houses in the parish, ending up “sitting round the television … to watch a football match. He was in the greatest form, as he always was when engrossed in a game of soccer/’ Scottish Catholic Directory 1985).
Father Owen Gallagher has written: “Monsignor Gillespie was a gentle, kind and unassuming man. He soon won the hearts of the priests and people because he was always ready to see the good in people and think the best of them, and was the easiest man in the world to work with and a wise and prudent counsellor . . . The hallmark of his ministry was his obedience to authority, and his acceptance of changes even if he did not always agree with them. He was always a gentleman and his kindness made itself felt in the parish … He involved the laity much more in the life of the parish than had ever been done before.”
Renewal
Now that the first century of the parish’s existence has drawn to a close, the city of St. Mungo is a vastly changed place from the thriving port and busy commercial and industrial centre of Victorian times. Its population has long passed the peak of around one and a quarter million, it is no longer the Second City of a great
Empire, and redevelopment has altered its physical aspect to an almost unbelievable degree.
The period of expansion into greenfield sites on the city boundary is over, and renewal at the traditional city centre has begun. Along with the material changes has gone a profound change in social mores and religious observance in general. Inevitably the Christian community has been affected by the prevailing atmosphere, and within it the need for some kind of spiritual revival is being felt.
In Holy Cross traditional parish activities continue, in such organisations as the St. Vincent de Paul Society—no longer an all-male preserve—the Union of Catholic Mothers, the Catholic Men’s Society, Legion of Mary, Boys* Guild and Altar Society, while new associations giving fresh expression to the spirit within them have come into being, among them a lively prayer group, a Pro-Life Cell and a branch of the Archdiocesan Justice and Peace movement.
In 1984 Father John Hanrahan took over as parish priest, to be joined later that year by Father Francis Meagher who succeeded Father Owen Gallagher as senior curate. The liturgical developments begun in the time of Monsignor Gillespie continued, including the daily public recital of the Morning Office, and involvement of the laity increased particularly as Special Ministers of the Eucharist and as Readers and Cantors. The most recent development has been the re-designing of the confessional “boxes” as rooms—a change Monsignor Gillespie had had in mind. A notable contribution to the enhancement of the liturgy is being made by the participation of the congregation in the music of the daily as well as the Sunday Masses.
The centenary gives a unique opportunity to the “man and woman in the pew” to acknowledge the great contribution that has been made down the years to the life of the community by those many parishioners who might be described as the clergy’s supporting servers, sacristans Hugh Wright, Sean O’Neill and George Clare, choirmasters clerical and lay, choirmistresses Cissie Wilson, Margaret Hegarty and Patricia Collins, the choristers themselves, cantors, folk group, instrumentalists, organists, members of the parish council, and of hall, pilgrimage and other committees, passkeepers, those involved in the developing field of communications, messengers, stage managers and producers of dramatic presentations which have been a long-standing feature of Holy Cross
life, flower arrangers, cleaners, maintenance men, stall attendants—a vast congregation involved in the community life. The willingness of all to give of their time enthusiastically and anonymously in itself pays tribute to their devotion.
At the Archdiocesan level, His Grace Archbishop Winning has set in motion a far- seeing plan for pastoral renewal, giving a challenge for the future which will demand great and continuing effort on the part of the whole community. Along with these developments goes a need to align with the ecumenical events increasingly taking place, of which the Lent 86 meetings which were of nationwide significance are the most recent example.
At every stage the parish has been closely identified with the teaching mission of the Church and with education in general, and is in th*e happy position of entering its second century with two thriving primary schools closely identified with the life of the parish, and with a secondary school which has a distinguished half-century of achievement behind it and the promise of greater things to come. With these remarkable assets the future of the community can be faced with faith and confidence. The century which has passed has been marred by divisions, violence and the most horrendous wars the world has ever seen. Perhaps the devotion of Holy Cross to the Prince of Peace may help in the years to come to point the way to that peace the world cannot give.
Holy Cross School Holy Cross School is some two-and-a-half years older than the parish itself. It opened in December 1882, in the building in Daisy Street which it was later to share as a church with the newly-formed parish. There were then about one-hundred-and-fifty children in three classes. The headmistress, Miss Hannah Power, was the only certificated teacher on the staff; pupil- teachers and stipendiary monitresses made up the rest—among them the legendary Miss Eugenie Kampf, who rose from stipendiary monitress in 1889 to headmistress in 1914. She retained this post for the next twenty-one years, almost equalling her predecessor Miss Mary McGinlay, who held it from 1889-1914. No head teacher since then has remained for anything like that length of time.
In the early days the school had a Reverend Manager. The first was Father McCluskey, who visited the school often, at least two or three times a week, and daily in some weeks. It was his responsibility to see that the children received a good Catholic education, and attended regularly. It is recorded that homes were visited by the clergy to see why the children had not been at school, and treats were arranged for good
attenders. One took the form of a “Magic Lantern” show. The school grant depended in part on attendance, and it was essential that no child be absent without good cause. Parents were expected to provide the necessary books, and a list was sent home at the beginning of each year. When a sufficient number had text-books, lessons could begin.
H.M. Inspectors visited the school every year—on their report depended the amount of grant to be given. In November 1883 they reported that “a very promising beginning” had been made. In 1900 the new school in Daisy Street was formally opened, and in 1919 Holy Cross came under the wing of Glasgow Education Authority. Inspections continued, and among comments is one in 1929 which described the majority of pupils as coming from “good working class homes”, being taught in “an atmosphere of industry and application,” and yet another in the 1960s described Holy Cross as “a very happy school”.
The children returned after their summer holidays in 1914 to find that their headmistress, Miss McGinlay, had died in a drowning accident, and Miss Kampf had taken over. In October of that year eighteen Belgian refugee children were
enrolled in the school. Two Belgian teachers, Sisters of Notre Dame, gave them their lessons in their native languages, French and Flemish.
In 1916 the school did not close until July 12, Fair Holidays having been postponed to suit munition workers. Also that year, because of the Easter Rising in Dublin one member of staff was unable to be at her post when the school opened. She did manage to travel the following week. In 1917 a war-bonus was issued to staff, the first instalment being £2/10/-, and one member of staff was given permission to absent herself for five days to be married—“a war wedding” the log book noted. 1918 saw school hours shortened to save fuel and gas. Armistice Day came at last, greeted with ‘ ‘boundless enthusiasm among teachers and scholars.”
The Second World War affected the children more directly. After the summer holidays of 1939 they were organised for evacuation—it was found possible to have children and parents at the railway station in about eight minutes from Daisy Street. That weekend teachers were expected to be at the school on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. till 7 p.m. On September 2, one party went from the school to Elderslie and Kilbarchan, and another to Bridge of Weir. The school had closed indefinitely on August 31, and was not to reopen until 20 November. In 1941 a second evacuation to Castle Douglas took place, and for those left in Glasgow schooling was severely curtailed because of air-raids. The end of the war was marked by a two-day holiday, and children attended a thanksgiving service in church.
Yet another war affected Holy Cross—the struggle in Nigeria. Because of this, Biafrans on a visit to Scotland found themselves unable to return home, and for a short time Holy Cross had two Biafrans on the staff. One, Geoffrey ‘jomah, remained for several years and became an integral part of the school community.
Until 1936, when Holyrood opened, children remained in Holy Cross until they reached the leaving age. Practical classes for the older children were held in other schools more suitably equipped. In September 1925 two classes were accommodated in Annette Street School to relieve congestion. Slum clearance schemes accounted for a sharp rise in numbers, and in 1932 the Advanced Division was housed in Batson Street School. In the following year Polmadie School housed 120 post-qualifying pupils, including some from St. Francis’ and St.
Bonaventure’s. The opening of Holyrood in 1936 meant the transfer of several teachers from Holy Cross along with their advanced division pupils.
In the 1950s, the opening of St. Mirin’s, St. Margaret Mary’s, St. Bartholomew’s and Our Lady of the Annunciation relieved the overcrowding. In the ’60s the numbers rose again, and pupils were taken by bus to Toryglen, Craig Road and Melville Street. At one stage two classes met in the Dixon Halls and several in Batson Street School. All this ended in 1967 when Calder Street Secondary was taken over (not without vociferous protest from those whose children had to leave there) and only infant classes were housed in Daisy Street. Yet again extra room had to be found, and pre-fab. huts in the grounds of Victoria School became an annexe for some years, until the opening of St. Bride’s finally reduced the numbers. Now, infant and primary classes are all housed under one roof in Calder Street, and Daisy Street has become a community centre.
An important member of the school community is the “janny”. One in particular of these who served in Holy Cross is mentioned in the log book for 1920. In December of that year Patrick Hughes died from pneumonia—a man “universally beloved by children and honoured and respected by the staff. The Authority of Glasgow had no more loyal servant than he”— surely a testimonial to be proud of.
It wasn’t all work and no play. There were visits to exhibitions as far back as the Glasgow Exhibition of 1888. In 1898, pupils had time off to watch the Barnum and Bailey procession, and an outing to a matinee performance at the Hampden Picture House (now the Clada Club) was arranged in 1928—it is not recorded what film they went to see! Visits were made to Bertha Waddell’s Children’s Theatre, and the pantomime became a regular feature of the Christmas term. Visits abroad included a trip to Lourdes in 1968, and a couple of years ago a visit to Belgium was arranged.
The generosity of Holy Cross people is a byword. In the 1920s staff opened a soup kitchen for needy children. For many years the children have contributed to the Holy Childhood collections for the missions, sick children have been helped to visit Lourdes, and remarkably a Bishop in Uganda was able to buy a cow through the efforts of the school. Most recently they responded to the appeal for foodstuffs for Ethiopia. Each year some charity benefits from
the inherent goodness and thoughtfulness of the children.
The log-books reflect the many changes that have taken place through the years. The very illnesses which struck staff and pupils are almost unheard of today. Tuberculosis, smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid are not the dread words they used to be, so far has medicine advanced. Even the weather has improved—fog can no longer close the school for a week as it did at the beginning of the century. The wonders of electric light and wireless are wonders no longer, and Holy Cross is now in the computer age.
Thousands of children and hundreds of teachers have cause to remember Holy Cross. Some have achieved fame, others notoriety, but clergy and laity alike have been well served by the vast majority of ordinary men and women who received their first grounding in Holy Cross. Long may it continue! Let us hope that when the bi-centenary comes round. Holy Cross pupils and staff will still be making their presence felt in the Archdiocese.
The affection in which Holy Cross School is held by so many of its former pupils is a clear indication of the happy relations that have existed through the years between teachers, parents, pupils and parish. It is simply not possible to record here the names of all the teachers who have served in the school. The list of head teachers which follows must stand for all:
| 1882-1888 | Hannah Power |
| 1889-1914 | Mary McGinlay |
| 1914-1935 | Eugenie Kampf |
| 1935-1937 | George Quigley |
| 1937-1950 | Gerald P. McCrossan |
| 1950-1958 | Hugh Savage |
| 1958-1965 | J. McGinty |
| 1965-1972 | Daniel Travers |
| 1972-1978 | Shaun O’Hagan |
| 1978-1984 | Margaret Hegarty |
| 1984- | Anne McLaughlin |
Holyrood—Fifty Years Old
The ties which bind Holyrood school to Holy Cross parish are considerably older than the fifty years of the school. They are as old as the parish itself. For the school stands on what the first parishioners remember with affection as the Daisy Park and the boating loch, the playground
of the first children of the parish from High Govanhill, the. “village* * of Poimadie, the east side of Crosshill, and the miners* rows at Hangingshaw—long before the intervening “new houses” came to be built.
It is difficult to resist the temptation to recall the names, still common in the parish, of those families who were reared near to the place where the school now stands. But the list is too long; and it would be individious to mention some and exclude others. Let those who can, enjoy the pleasure of bringing to mind those names for themselves. They will recall many exemplary families, many splendid boys and girls, many who became priests or nuns, and several bishops, including Bishop Douglas, Bishop McGill, Abbot Donald McGlynn, and the recently appointed Bishop Mone.
In any case, when Holyrood School opened in 1936, among the hundreds of new pupils those old familiar names rang out again in the school playground, and even in the staff-rooms. Mr. F. Graham the first headmaster, was to find that the ties between school and parish were already made. It was only for him, and his successors, Mr. T. Rogers, Mr. J. J. McKee, Mr. P. Poli and Mr. P. Mullen, to extend and enrich them. This is what they did.
Meantime new bonds were being made, in tribulation and tragedy. The War came to scatter the children, and to call on the flower of its youth. So young and small a school, so great a sacrifice! Two members of staff and ten of the best boys. Their names live on the memorial plaque, and in our hearts—Maurice Paul de Sachy; John Green; Desmond McAllister; John McCluskey; Alex. McEachen; Harold McVey; James Murray; John A. Pearson; John Ross; James Sunters; John Leonard and Louis McMillan. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Peace restored the broken ties. Both school and parish grew in size. New ties were made. The splendid children of the new generation brought lustre and prestige, in every sphere of activity—in trade, in commerce, in sport, in music and art, in broadcasting, the theatre and journalism, in the professions, and in the religious life. Yet once more it was the occasion of sorrow which emphasised the strength of the school and parish ties—the death of the beloved Bishop Graham. School and parish were as one in grief.
To the school came the Bishop’s Bronze Medal in Church History, won by him in 1894/5 as a student at St. Andrews University, and the mallet used by him at the laying of the foundation stone of St. Matthew’s Church in Edinburgh. These are cherished mementoes of him who did so much for school and parish. Nor did the school forget. At his lying-in-state, two senior pupils from Holyrood mounted guard at the head of the coffin. The anchor and dolphin mosaic, a symbol of the Redemption which adorns the beautiful sanctuary of Holy Cross Church, is a gift of the pupils of Holyrood School in loving memory of Bishop Graham.
Mr. John McKee had taken up his appointment as head teacher on 2 February, 1959 and he held the post until 4 January, 1971. The roll of the school in 1959 was 1492—721 boys and 771 girls, accommodated in the main building and in the annexes—Polmadie School, Aikenhead Annexe and St. Brigid’s, Toryglen.
In 1961 the school’s Silver Jubilee was celebrated in the Marlborough, attended by the Lord Provost Mrs. Jean Roberts, Bishop Ward, Treasurer Buchanan and representatives of other bodies, including many former pupils and former members of staff. That year, the Golden Jubilee year of the church in Dixon Avenue, was also the year of its consecration. On that occasion the school pupils formed a procession round the church. Some may remember that teachers were then on strike—for the first time.
In January 1962 the school roll was 1856, and this necessitated the housing of three preparatory classes in St. Dominic’s Annexe, making four annexes in all. With the opening of St. Margaret Mary’s School in Castlemilk in August 1962, the roll of Holyrood was slightly reduced and the annexe in St. Dominic’s Primary was vacated.
Discussion on plans for an extension to the school started in January 1966, work started on it on 5 March 1968 and the extension was formally opened on Tuesday, 6 June, 1972, by the Lord Provost of Glasgow, John Mains Esq. O.B.E., J.P., F.E.I.S.
By this time John McKee had retired and the appointment as head master had been taken up by Mr. Peter Poli.
In session 1971-72 the school roll was as follows: Boys 1053, Girls 1003. Total roll 2056.
This year marked an important change in Holyrood as it had now changed from a selective to a comprehensive school.
Two annexes—the Girls* Annexe (Polmadie) and the Boys’ Annexe (Aikenhead) were still required, partly because of the pressure on space, but also because reconstruction work was still being carried out in the south wing of the old building.
On the retiral of Peter Poli, the present head teacher, Mr. Peter Mullen, took up his appointment on 17 August, 1977.
On 5 November, 1977 the Parent/Teacher Association was formed. This association has been most successful in participating in the community life of the school.
With adaptation of the existing accommodation in the main building and because of falling rolls, it was now possible to house all pupils in the main building and to close the two annexes. So it was farewell first to Polmadie (affectionately known as “The Slum**) and then to Aikenhead (fondly referred to as “The Prison Camp**).
It is the aim of Holyrood Secondary School to pursue a liberal policy in education. Basic skills must be taught and developed, but in as lively and interesting a fashion as possible.
The wide range of clubs and activities offered by Holyrood represents attempts to cater for the pupils* needs and interests. The school has achieved many notable successes in its intra- and extra-curricular activities e.g. in sports, athletics, debating, art, music, drama and community relationships, (every year the Upper School and staff hold a reception for the housebound senior citizens who are transported to the school and back to their homes.)
Funds are raised and dispersed to charitable organisations, particularly local ones.
The school has won major prizes every year since 1977 in the prestigious annual Glasgow Educational Trust Bursary Competition.
Speakers from many walks of life regularly visit the school to address appropriate groups of pupils e.g. writers, poets, journalists, musicians, M.P.s, insurance brokers, doctors, police. The visitors have come from as far afield as Tanzania, Australia, China, Japan, France, India and Bavaria.
The B.B.C. Scottish Radio Orchestra gave live broadcasts from the Assembly Hall. Parents attended and the Holyrood Choir and instrumentalists took part.
The school has come a long way since 1936 and suitable plans have been drafted to celebrate these 50 glorious years.
Time has strengthened the ties between Holy Cross and Holyrood. Many fine former pupils of Holyrood married and chose to stay in the parish, their children, and indeed their children’s children have come to Holyrood. A fine tradition has been established. The future is full or promise.
The Head Teachers
Francis Graham 1936-1948
Thomas Rogers 1948-1959
John J. McKee 1959-1970
Peter Poli 1970-1977
Peter Mullen 1977-
St. Bride’s Primary School On 2 August 1974 the former Strathbungo Secondary School was re-opened as St. Bride’s Primary, with a view to relieving pressure on Holy Cross Primary and Infants Schools. The patron saint was chosen to serve the double purpose of drawing an analogy between St. Bride and her devotion to the Cross with the attachment of the school to the parish of Holy Cross, as well as acknowledging the large Irish community in the area.
When the school opened, with rather more than 500 pupils drawn from Holy Cross, Our Lady of Consolation, St. Helen’s and St. Albert’s parishes, there was no furniture, blackboards or cloakroom space, and little stock. Books were borrowed from all possible sources, and the children provided their own pencils and jotters, sitting on the floors, fortunately carpeted, to do their writing. In time the many
difficulties were resolved, and the formal opening was performed on 17 January 1975 by the late Frank McElhone M.P. in the presence of His Grace Archbishop Winning and many dignitaries representing education and civic life.
The school quickly settled, and during its first year extra-curricular activities began to be organised. In the following years numbers declined, reflecting trends throughout the country. The founder headteacher, Miss Fidelis Corrigan, retired in June 1983 and was succeeded by Miss Angela Lavery. The roll was now 360, and the staff correspondingly reduced.
The tenth anniversary was celebrated in January 1985 with a Mass of Thanksgiving concelebrated by the new parish priest Father John Hanrahan and the school chaplain Father Peter Gallacher, followed by a staff lunch and a treat for the children.
St. Bride’s strives to instil sound learning and encourage initiative in its pupils. Over the years the curriculum has broadened and developed. Strong links have been forged with the local community, and pupils have begun to distinguish themselves in various fields. Through real initiative and hard work from teachers, pupils and parents, efforts to bring practical help to others in need have borne fruit, providing, among other things, an ambulance for the St. Lazarus Emergency Ambulance Corps. A true spirit of charity has manifested itself in all of these enterprises.
St. Bride’s has been called the younger daughter of Holy Cross. At eleven years of age she is growing up. Despite all current difficulties, with the continued dedication of staff and support of parents, she should move confidently into her second decade as the parish of Holy Cross moves into the second century of its life.
The Priests of Holy Cross
Parish Priests
From 1882 until 1886, the mission at Crosshill was served from St. John’s, Portugal Street.
PETER LINK, 1886-1889. Born at Liershahn, Nassau, Germany, 24 December, 1853. Studied Classics at Montabaur; 1876 entered the University of Bonn for philosophy and theology. 1878 entered St. Peter’s Seminary, then at Partickhill; ordained there on 21 September 1879 by Bishop McLachlan, and appointed to Our Lady and St. Margaret’s, Kinning Park. Returned to Germany on 9 September 1889.
WILLIAM P. O’BRIEN, 1889-1930. Bom 22 February, 1860. Educated at St. Aloysius’ College, St. Mary’s Blairs and Scots College Rome. Ordained 29 May 1883. He spent three years as a curate in Greenock, and a further three in St. Andrew’s Cathedral before being appointed to Holy Cross in 1889, and served there for forty years until his retiral in 1930. He died in his 76th year of age and in the 54th of his priesthood.
HENRY GREY GRAHAM, 1930-1959. Bom at Maxton, Roxburghshire 8 March 1874. Educated at Kelso and University of St. Andrews. M.A. 1893, B.D. 1896. Lectured in Hebrew and Oriental Studies, 1896-97. Licensed as minister of the Church of Scotland, and called to Avondale 1897. Received into the Roman Catholic Church
Studied at Scots College, Rome until his ordination 22 December 1906. Served for ten years in Lanarkshire. Consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh 16 November 1917. Appointed parish priest of Holy Cross, 1930. Died on 5 December 1959.
PATRICK WYCHERLEY, 1960-1964. Born at f Rosscarberry, Co. Cork on 28 February,
Educated at St. Colman’s, Fermoy, St. Mary’s Blairs and St. Peter’s, Bearsden,
Ordained 29 June, 1929 at St. Andrew’s Cathedral. Assistant: Our Lady and St. Margaret 1929-35; St. Aloysius’ (Springbum) 1935-37: St. Columba’s 1937-47; St. Peter’s College 1947-55; parish priest St. Anthony’s 1955-60; Holy Cross, 1960-64. Died 31 December 1964.
JAMES WARD, 1965-1973. Born at Dumbarton, 4 September, 1905. Educated at St. Aloysius’ College and St. Peter’s, Bearsden. Ordained in St. Andrew’s Cathedral, 29 June 1929. Assistant, St. John’s, Barrhead 1929 and St. Charles’ 1929. Diocesan Secretary, 1929. Chancellor, 1947, Vicar General and Diocesan Treasurer 1948; Chaplain at Notre Dame Training College, 1948; consecrated Bishop of Sita and Auxiliary to Archbishop Campbell on 21 September 1960. Vicar Capitular 1963. parish priest of Holy Cross 1965. Died 21 October 1973.
JOHN GILLESPIE, 1973-1984. Bom at Paisley, 26 June 1912. Educated at St. Minn’s Academy, St. Mary’s, Blairs, and St. Peter’s College, Bearsden. Ordained in St. Andrew’s Cathedral on 29 June 1938. Assistant: Holy Cross, Croy; 1944, St. Philomena’s; 1952, senior assistant, St. Anthony’s, Govan; 1959, Chaplain to Notre Dame College of Education; 1970, parish priest, St. Agnes, Lambhill; 1973, Vicar General and parish priest of Holy Cross. Died on 24 May 1984.
JOHN HANRAHAN, 1984. Born 1 November 1925 at Cragmoher, Corofin, Co. Clare. Educated at St. Flannan’s, Ennis, and All Hallows, Dublin. Ordained in Dublin on 18 June 1950 for the Glasgow Archdiocese. Assistant: Holy Cross, Croy 1950-67; Christ the King, King’s Park 1967-68; St. Mary’s, Duntocher, 1968-1974; parish priest, St. Helen’s, Langside, 1974-84; Holy Cross, Crossbill, 1984.
Assistant Priests
FRANCIS JOSEPH LAVETH 1895-1895. THOMAS CARLIN 1896-1910.
WILLIAM MANGAN 1904-1912.
PATRICK A. HACKETT 1910-1917. TIMOTHY COURTNEY 1912-1918. ALEXANDER HAMILTON 1917-1919. Canon of Chapter of Motherwell Diocese 1952; Domestic Prelate 1957.
PATRICK O’BRIEN 1919-1926. ALEXANDER McCORMICK 1918-1922 DANIEL HORGAN 1919-1920.
PATRICK O’MAHONEY 1922-1927.
DENIS GRIFFIN 1926-1928.
MICHAEL McNICHOLAS 1927-1931.
JOHN STUART 1928-1929 PATRICK ALOYSIUS SHERIDAN 1928-1948. Parish priest St. Eunan’s, Clydebank, of which he was the founder, from 1948 till 1970. Canon of Glasgow Cathedral Chapter 1967. Died 11th June 1970.
JAMES P. FITZGIBBON 1928-1929. Chaplain to British Army 1939-45.
PATRICK CLARKE 1929-1938.
JOHN LITTLE 1929-1930.
JAMES McGRORY 1930-1940.
ROBERT DOCHERTY 1931-1933.
JEREMIAH O’KANE 1937-1950.
JAMES BLACK 1938-1939. Vicar General of Glasgow 1947; consecrated first Bishop of Paisley, 22 February, 1948.
GERARD McDADE 1939-1945.
JOSEPH POWER 1940-1940.
GAETANO ROSSI. 1940-1962. Now Monsignor Canon Rossi, parish priest of St. Peter’s, Partick.
HUGH DEERY 1946-1957. First parish priest of Our Lady of Good Counsel 1962; Canon Deery now parish priest of St. Bernadette’s, Carntyne since 1979.
MICHAEL O’KEEFE 1948-1960. First parish priest of St. Dominic’s, Bishopbriggs, 1973.
HUGH CASSIDY 1951-1954. Parish priest St. Pius X Drumchapel, 1954. Honorary Canon, 1972.
NORMAN BAIRD 1954-1965.
MICHAEL MOONEY 1957-1969. Now parish priest of St. Margaret Mary’s, Castlemilk.
OWEN GALLAGHER 1959-1984. Now parish priest of Our Lady of Good Counsel.
RICHARD HEWITT SEWARDS 1961-1962.
DAVID CURRIE 1963-1965. Now parish priest of St. Joseph’s, Faifley.
JEREMIAH CARROLL 1965-1979. Now parish priest of St. Paul’s, Shettleston.
CHARLES KANE 1966-1970.
JOSEPH MILLS 1970-1975.
JOHN G. McAULEY 1971-1972.
MICHAEL CONROY 1975-1976.
DAVID BROWN 1977-1982.
BRIAN REILLY 1980-1982.
GERARD McKAY 1981-1982. Now parish priest at Taynuilt.
FRANCIS MEAGHER 1984-.
PAUL KIERNEY 1983-1983.
PETER M. GALLACHER 1982-.
STEPHEN D. HOLLAND 1983-
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Postscript
Acknowledgment is made of the debt owed to all those who contributed to this history of the parish or to the Centenary Exhibition whether by allowing themselves to be interviewed in the cause of historical accuracy, by parting temporarily with treasured photographs or other mementoes of parochial life, by undertaking painstaking research, or by assisting with photography or duplication or in any other way. The list is long. It includes;
Rt. Rev. Abbot Donald McGlynn; Very Rev. Mons. Canon Rossi; Very Rev. Mons. Hugh G. McEwan; Rev. Owen Gallagher;
Mrs. E. O’Neill, Mr. P. Mullen, and Miss A. Lavery who contributed the sections on Holy Cross, Holyrood and St. Bride’s Schools;
and, among parishioners past and present,
Mr. and Mrs. J. Boyle; Mrs. Carbry; Mr. Devenney; Miss M. Douglas; Mrs. H. Duggan; Mr. G. Dunbar; Miss E. Duff; Mrs. L. Flynn; Sister Doreen Grant, CBE; Mrs. M. Gordon; Mr. J. Gray; Mr. R. Horn; Mrs. B. Jones; Mr. E. Kane; Misses E. and M. Lafferty; Miss V. McConnochie; Miss C. McCrudden; Mrs. McGarvey; Mr. and Mrs. T. McGlinchey; Miss S. McGlinchey; Mrs. C. McGovern; Mr. and Mrs. B. McGuire; Mr. and Mrs. E. McGuire; Mr. J. J. McKee; Mr. J. Maguire; Mr. D. Murray; Mrs. K. Ponsonby; Mr. and Mrs P. Skeffington; Mrs. T. Reilly; Mr. and Mrs. J. Sullivan; Miss Eileen Sweeney; Mrs. M. Tolan; and the late Miss A. Wilson.
Thanks are due in particular to our photographers Graham Dunbar and Bob Horn; to John Gray for time-consuming
research; to Jack Maguire for sharing his insights into local history; to Sister Doreen Grant CBE, Mrs. Pat Sullivan, members of the Parish Council and Mr. Tom Walsh for assistance with the Centenary Exhibition.
The following documents were consulted:
Scottish Catholic Directories, 1882-1986.
Annual Returns of Holy Cross Parish.
Minutes of Archdiocesan Finance Board Centenary Brochures of St. Mary’s, Pollokshaws, St. Peter’s, Partick, St. Agnes’s, Lambhill, St. Francis’, Cumberland Street and St. Joseph’s, Clarkston.
Brochures for the Solemn Opening of St. Albert’s, Our Lady of Consolation and St. Brigid’s, Toryglen.
Holy Cross Brochures for the Bazaar 190S, Jubilee of the Mission, Sale of Work and Jubilee of the C.Y.M.S.
B.Ed. Dissertation on the growth of the Church in the south side of Glasgow by H. Roarty.
Monsignor Hugh G. McEwan’s volume Bishop Henry G. Graham.
The Tenement by Frank Worsdall.
Mss. of Bishop Graham made available by Mons. Canon Rossi.
The receipt of the Centenary History of the Govanhill Church of Scotland 1880-1980 is also acknowledged, as is the valuable help given by Miss McHugh, Assistant Archivist of the Archdiocese, and by the staff of the Glasgow Room of the Mitchell Library.
THE FOLLOWING SUESCRIBERS ARE CORDIALLY THANKED FOR THEIR
SUPPORT FOR THIS PRODUCTION
Jack Seenan, Funeral Undertakers,
575 Cathcart Road. G42 T. & R. O’Brien, Funeral Undertakers,
580 Cathcart Road. G42 Sheila, Hair Stylist, 597 Cathcart Road. G42 Clydesdale Bank, 621 Cathcart Road. G42 Vezza, Hairdresser, 632 Cathcart Road. G42 Stewart Kennedy, Newsagent, 642 Cathcart Road. G42 John Johnston, Funeral Undertakers,
719 Cathcart Road. G42 Anderson & Maguire, Funeral Undertakers,
1241 Cathcart Road. G42 Royal Bank of Scotland, 368 Victoria Road. G42 Bank of Scotland, 464 Victoria Road. G42 The Country Shop, Butcher, 138 Allison Street. G42 John Dermott, Bookmaker, 162 Allison Street. G42 P. J. Neeson, Public House, 165 Allison Road.
The Unique, Restaurant, 223 Allison Street. G42 J. Hamilton, Funeral Undertaker,
322 Allison Street. G42 Eddie, Gents Hairdresser, 359 Allison Street. G42
- Cooper & Son, Baker/Dairy,
217 Allison Street. G42 San Wah, Restaurant, 193 Allison Street. G42 Queen’s Park Bar, 21 Dixon Avenue. G42 J. McGinley, Plumbers, 24 Dixon Avenue. G42 Mullen Taxis and Cabaret Artistes,
112 Dixon Avenue. G42 Len Mullen, Gents Outfitter, 12 Nithsdale Road. G42 The Mad Hatter, Theatrical Costume Makers.
Allied Irish Bank, 63/65 Kilmarnock Road. G42 The Clada Club, Social Club,
Westmoreland Street. G42 The Marie Stuart Hotel, 48 Queen Mary Avenue. G42 Culdaff Construction Company Ltd.,
55 Hamilton Street. G42 Hayes & Finch, Palace Craig Street, Whifflet.
John S. Burns & Sons, Printers, 25 Finlas Street. G22 R. Lang & Sons, Plumbers & Electricians,
1008 Pollokshaws Road. G42 John J. Haddock, Plumbers, 3 Letham Court. G43
Printed by John S. Burns & Sons, Glasgow.
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He that in this world rules his saints and shields To all believers life eternal yields;
With heavenly bread makes them that hunger whole, Gives living waters to the thirsty soul;
Alpha and Omega, to whom shall bow All nations at the doom, is with us now.
Bangor Antiphonary, 7th Century.
BACK COVER
The stained glass window representing THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS, is the major piece in the group of windows above the organ gallery which depicts the theme of the Cross. The others commemorate St. Peter and St. Andrew, who died by crucifixion, St Helena who found the True Cross, and St. Sylvester who was Pope at that time. These windows, which recall something of the glory of mediaeval churches, were installed by Bishop Graham. His plans for the embellishment of the church and sanctuary were completed by Father Wycherley
Veteraetcetera 