Kirkconnel ( Gaelic: ''Cille Chonbhaill'') is a small parish in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

, southwestern

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 ...

. It is located on the A76 near the head of

Nithsdale Nithsdale (), also known as Strathnith, Stranith or Stranit, is the strath or dale (landform), dale of the River Nith in southern Scotland. Nithsdale was one of the medieval provinces of Scotland. The provinces gradually lost their administrat ...

. Principally it has been a sporting community. The name comes from The Church of Saint Conal. In 1850 the village had only a single street. Next to Kirkconnel is a separate village called Kelloholm. It is also associated with the ballad '' Helen of Kirkconnel''.

History

The early church and settlement were situated at the foot of Kirkland Hill on the drove road from

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

, which followed the steep incline beside the Glenaylmer Burn. Whether Saint Conal was a Culdee monk and missionary from

Gaelic Ireland Gaelic Ireland () was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the late Prehistory of Ireland, prehistoric era until the 17th century. It comprised the whole island before Anglo-Norman invasi ...

or the son of a local shepherd befriended and educated by Glasgow's

Saint Mungo Kentigern (; ), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow. Name In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptis ...

, Christianity came early to this part of Nithsdale. A

Celtic cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...

, erected in 1880 by the

Duke of Buccleuch Duke of Buccleuch ( ), formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, and second ''suo jure'' for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Countess of ...

at the instigation of the

Church of Scotland minister A Church of Scotland congregation is led by its minister and elders. Both of these terms are also used in other Christian denominations: see Minister (Christianity) and Elder (Christianity). This article discusses the specific understanding of ...

, the Rev. John Donaldson, marks the reputed burial place of Saint Conal. From the neighbourhood of the cross, on a clear day, can be seen the churches at Kirkconnel,

Sanquhar Sanquhar (, ) is a town on the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, north of Thornhill and west of Moffat. It is a former Royal Burgh. It is notable for its tiny post office, established in 1712 and considered the oldest working p ...

and Kirkbride, all associated with Saint Conal. St Conal's Church is one of the oldest church sites in Southern Scotland with archaeological remains dating to the 9th century and the present foundations of a church dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. Life changed dramatically for this small town in the 1890s when a coal pit was opened at Fauldheld.

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

had always been mined in the district before, but never in large quantities. From then on coal dominated the life of the little town. The coal industry moved away in recent decades, and with it much of the population.

Transport

The A76 road runs through the area. Kirkconnel is served by bus routes 221 and 246. Kirkconnel is served by Kirkconnel railway station on the Glasgow South Western Line.

Notable people

* Willie Ferguson - footballer with

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...

and

Queen of the South F.C. Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional football club formed in 1919 in Dumfries. The club plays in , the third tier of Scottish football. They are traditionally nicknamed the '' Doonhamers'' but are more usually referred ...

* Kris Haddow -

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art ob ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

(born Kris Clark) * Watson Kirkconnell - Canadian poet, playwright, and public intellectual. Visited the village, where he had familial roots, in 1953 and later composed a poem about local history; ''"Kirkconnell, Galloway, A.D. 600. Visited A.D. 1953"''. * Bill Taylor - footballer with St Johnstone F.C. * Sam Hastings - footballer with Hamilton Academicals and Clyde F.C. * Alex Parker - footballer with Falkirk F.C.,

Everton F.C. Everton Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1878, the club was a founding member of the Football Lea ...

and the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA ...

, started his career with the local club, Kello Rovers F.C.

Notes

References

External links