Auchinairn (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

: ''Achadh an Fheàrna'') is a suburb (formerly a village) within

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling (council area), Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and shares its southern boundary with the

Robroyston Robroyston () is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, located around northeast of the city centre. To the north, it directly adjoins Auchinairn (part of Bishopbriggs) in the neighbouring East Dunbartonshire local authority area. The Glasgow neighbo ...

and

Balornock Balornock (, ) is a district in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated outside the city centre, north of the River Clyde, it forms part of the larger area of Springburn. Balornock shared the Red Road complex of multi-storey flats with the ne ...

districts within the

Glasgow City council area Glasgow City Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Ghlaschu'') is the local government authority for Glasgow City council area, Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Glasgow was formerly governed by a corporation, also kno ...

History

;Etymology The original village of Auchinairn is derived from Scottish Gaelic * Achadh an Fheàrna (silent "fh") - field of the

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

s. * Achadh an Eòrna - field of barley. * Achadh an Iarainn - field of iron (it is believed that iron ore was once mined there). ;The village BriggsMap1923

Auchinairn village originally developed as two distinct areas: Old Auchinairn (The Auld Toon) and New Auchinairn. Old Auchinairn lay to the north side of Auchinairn Road, between what is now Woodhill Road and Letham Drive. It had a school which was built about 1760. New Auchinairn lay approximately between what is now Montrose Terrace and Springfield Avenue. It had a primary school which opened in 1876 and is now the Auchinairn Community Centre. The current primary school building stands on what was Auchinairn United football field. The village was founded by weavers and has housed workers from many different industries around the area, such as the mines, the railway and the quarry. In 1836 Auchinairn Village’s population stood at 284 compared with neighbouring Bishopbriggs population which stood at 175, but the opening of the

Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by act of Parliament on 4 July 1838. It was opened to passenger traffic on 21 February 1842, between its Glasgow Queen Street railway station (sometimes referred to at first as Dundas Street) and ...

in 1842 brought new industries to the area and as a result of this, housing was required for the workers. For many years Auchinairn was a vibrant community with a

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

, a post office, several small shops, a public house, a community hall and a mission hall. The Free Church mission which met in that hall was granted full church status in 1865. The members built a church on Springfield Road, Bishopbriggs. It is now part of Springfield Cambridge Church. Auchinairn had a brass band and a football team.

Quoits Quoits ( or ) is a traditional game which involves the throwing of metal, rope or rubber rings over a set distance, usually to land over or near a spike (sometimes called a hob, mott or pin). The game of quoits encompasses several distinct vari ...

was another popular activity. Littlehill Golf Course was designed by James Braid and opened in 1923. Harry Varden played there in 1925. Club professional, Tom Wilson, was once overnight leader in the

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

. File:Auchinairn Main Street LH.jpg, Auchinairn Road, 1900s File:Auchinairn-1.gif, Auchinairn Village File:Auchinairn-2.gif, The Co-operative on Auchinairn Road File:Auchiniarn instrumental band 1900.jpg, Auchinairn Instrumental Band at the unveiling of the Wallace Memorial,

, 4 August 1900. Although viewed today as part of the town of

Bishopbriggs Bishopbriggs (; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. Shires of Scotland, Historically in Lanarkshire, the area was once part of ...

, Auchinairn still has a strong sense of community and its own identity. There were five villages: Auchinairn; Bishopbriggs; Cadder; Jellyhill; and Mavis Valley. All were separated from one another by farmland. In 1938 residents were moved from Auchinairn to council housing in Bishopbriggs. Post Second World War housing development resulted the farmland being built on. In 1964 the district was granted

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

status, and the name ‘Bishopbriggs’ was adopted.

Present day

Auchinairn has several shops, public houses and restaurants, a primary school and a bowling club. A wide range of activities is offered in the community centre and in the community hall. File:Old-auchinairn-primary-school.jpg, Old Auchinairn Primary School, now a community centre File:Auchinairn-war-memorial-3.JPG, Auchinairn War Memorial File:Auchinairn-1.JPG, Auchinairn File:Auchinairn Tavern.JPG , Auchinairn Tavern (Now The Village Inn) File:Main-street-auchinairn-2.JPG, Main Street Auchinairn

Noted residents

Famous residents include: *

Average White Band The Average White Band (also known as AWB) was a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They were best known for their million-selling instrumental track " Pick Up the Pieces", and their alb ...

member Onnie McIntyre (born Owen McIntyre, 25 September 1945, Lennoxtown, Scotland - Family moved to Crowhill Road, Auchinairn/Bishopbriggs where he attended Auchinairn Primary) — vocals / rhythm guitar. *Mimic and voice over artist Lewis MacLeod attended Auchinairn Primary School in the 1970s. *

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, the mayor of New York City, and a candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regu ...

who played football for Glasgow Rangers and Everton in the 1940s and 1950s.

References

*This article incorporates text from a publication not in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

but reproduced with permission from the author: Findlay, Bill (2009). ''Auchinairn'' {{East Dunbartonshire Settlements Suburbs in East Dunbartonshire Bishopbriggs