St Brigid's Church, Kilbirnie

Parish church
name = St Brigid's Church


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dedication = Saint Brigid
denomination = Roman Catholic
tradition =
parish = Kilbirnie
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diocese = Galloway
province = St Andrews and Edinburgh
presbytery =
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provost =
canon = Rev. Alexander McGarry
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curate =
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website = [http://www.stbrigids-kilbirnie.com/index.html St Brigid's]
coordinates = coord|55|45|09|N|4|41|11|W

St Brigid's is the church for the Roman Catholic Parish of Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire, Scotland.

History

Father Thomas P Lee, a young Irish priest, was sent in 1859 to be the resident priest in Kilbirnie; a churchless priest with a wide parish. Somehow he raised the money and land to build his church and chose St. Brigid (devotion to the poor) to be the patron saint of the parish. Opened in 1862, the modest structure was a Gothic styled rectangular building with a gallery, porch, vestry, confessional and a related presbytery.

Due to an increasing post war population it was decided to renovate and enlarge the old church. The plan provided for an extension to the rear of the existing church, and when the work was completed there would be a new sanctuary and sacristy with accommodation for the altar boys. In front a new porch and baptistery were added to the old structure. The renovated and expanded church was opened in 1957. Conveniently the schoolmaster's house next door was also purchased to replace the more distant presbytery on Parkhouse Drive.