Galston Parish is situated in

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...

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 ...

, some five to ten miles east of

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

and roughly encompasses the southern half of the Upper Irvine Valley (locally known as ''The Valley''). The parish shares strong links with the parish of

Loudoun Loudoun () is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston parish, Galston Parish (which encompasses ...

, with which it shares a border along the

River Irvine The River Irvine () is a river that flows through southwest Scotland. Its watershed is on the Lanarkshire border of Ayrshire at an altitude of above sea-level, near Loudoun Hill, Drumclog, and SW by W of Strathaven. It flows westward, divid ...

Etymology

The earliest reference to the name appears as ''Gallistoun''.James Mair, ''Pictorial History of Galston'': p. 1, 1988 The consensus is that the name combines the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

word ''Gall'' (meaning ''stranger'') and the Anglian word ''tun'' (meaning ''hamlet'' or ''enclosure'').Hugh Maxwell, ''Old Galston'': pp. 3–4, 2001 It is impossible to say who the strangers were, but it is generally accepted that they were

Gaels The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celts, Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Goidelic languages, Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising ...

, due to the profusion of Gaelic names in the area.

Geography

The parish covers an area of about 61.4 square kilometers (23.7 square miles) and shares borders with six neighbouring parishes: Avondale (east), Kilmarnock (north-west), Loudoun (north), Mauchline (south-east), Riccarton (south-west) and Sorn (south). Of these six parishes, Galston is most commonly linked with Loudoun, because the parishes share strong historical and social links, as well as public services. Within the parish can be found the town of Galston, along with Greenholm and the village of

Priestland Priestland is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It has a population of 121 ( Census 2001) and lies on the A71, around two miles west of Loudoun Hill, ten miles east of Kilmarnock and twenty miles south of Glasgow. It is situated in a valley ...

. The most prominent buildings in the parish are Cessnock Castle and The Barr Castle. In modern times, Galston, Greenholm and Priestland are often said to be in Loudoun, but this is incorrect as all three lie south of the River Irvine, which marks the border between the two parishes. The mistake most likely stems from the fact that in modern times the name ''Galston'' is almost exclusively used to refer to the town, but ''Loudoun'' is still used to define an area.

Auchruglen Castle

The Castle and Lands of Auchruglen lay within the parish.

Further Study

* James Mair, A Pictorial History of Galston, Alloway Publishing, 1988 * Bobby Young, Galston: Place Of The Strangers, 1999 * Hugh Maxwell, Old Galston, Stenlake Publishing, 2001

References

{{reflist East Ayrshire Parishes in Ayrshire Galston, East Ayrshire