Kelty (Scottish Gaelic: Cailtidh) is a former coal mining village located in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland. Lying in the heart of the old mining heartlands of Fife, it is situated on the

Kinross-shire The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1930. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders Per ...

boundary and has a population of around 6,000 residents. This was nearer to 9,000 when the coal mining industry was still operational in late 1970s and early 1980s.

Origins

The origin of the name of the village is somewhat obscure. It could come from the Scottish Gaelic ''coillte'' or ''coilltean'' meaning 'wood' or 'woodland' or it could come from the Gaelic ''cailtidh'', a reduced form of the early Gaelic ''*caleto-dubron'', meaning 'hard water'. In either case, it was probably originally a Pictish name that was later adapted to Gaelic. The town began around 1850 as a mining town linked to several coal mines in the area, mainly owned by the Fife Coal Company and continued to expand with the increase of mines until 1930. Kelty is located next to the main Edinburgh to Perth road, the M90 motorway, and as a result of this has seen many houses built primarily for commuters to Edinburgh over the past five years. Kelty has two primary schools, St. Joseph's and Kelty Primary. After primary school, the majority of pupils go on to

Beath High School Beath High School is a non-denomational state secondary school in Cowdenbeath, Fife. The school is run by Fife Council and the current roll stands at around 1200 pupils aged from 11 to 18. It serves Cowdenbeath and Kelty and the villages of Cr ...

, a comprehensive school in Cowdenbeath, or the local Roman Catholic school, St Columba's High School in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

. Kelty also has a modern community centre, and a modern library. The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team is Kelty Hearts. In 2022 they were promoted to League 1 for the first time as

League 2 The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

champions.

Church

Kelty was part of the parish of Beath ( Cowdenbeath) and had a quoad sacra mission church erected in 1894. The mission was upgraded to a chapel in 1897, its minister being Rev George Hunter MA who went to Liverpool in 1903. He was replaced by Rev William Henderson Adam who went to Calderbank in 1919 and was replaced by Rev William Thomson. It was given status as a separate parish, disjoined from Cowdenbeath, in 1925.

War Memorial

The war memorial was erected in 1921 and was designed by sculptor William Birnie Rhind.

Notable people

* Claire Baker, MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife *

Stephen Husband Stephen Husband (born 29 October 1990) is a Scottish footballer who currently manages Dundonald Bluebell. He last played for Kelty Hearts. Early life Husband was born in Kelty, Fife, and attended Beath High School. Club career Early career ...

, professional footballer * Willie Penman, professional footballer * Willie Rennie, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats (2011–2021) *

Alex Rowley Alexander Andrew Penman Rowley (born 30 November 1963) is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017 and acting leader of the party from August to November 2017. He has been a Member of the ...

, Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party (2015–17) * Robert Stewart, Draughts World Champion (1922-1933)

Sport

Kelty Hearts won Scottish League Two in 2022, having been promoted from the Lowland League in 2021.

Blairadam House

Blairadam House, just north of Kelty but on the west side of the M90, was the long-term home of the Adam family: William Adam, Robert Adam, John Adam, William Adam of Blair Adam,

Charles Adam Admiral Sir Charles Adam (6 October 1780 – 19 September 1853) was a British naval commander and Lord of the Admiralty who served during the Napoleonic Wars. He later commanded the royal yacht, ''Royal Sovereign'', and was the Member of Parl ...

etc.

References

External links

*
Kelty on Fife Council website

Towns in Fife Mining communities in Fife {{Fife-geo-stub