Royston/Roystonhill is a district in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It was previously known as The Garngad and is still known as such by residents that have a familial link and is still displayed in local shops and bars. It is notable for its large population of immigrants, mostly of

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

descent and African. The district is situated north of the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

and north-east of Glasgow city centre, with its boundaries defined by infrastructure: the neighbourhoods of Sighthill (once the site of the

St Rollox Chemical Works St Rollox Chemical Works was an industrial manufacturer of chemicals located in Glasgow, Scotland, that began in 1799 and operated continuously until 1964. It was created by Scottish industrialist Charles Tennant and owned and operated by his f ...

) and

Townhead Townhead (, ) is a district within the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of Glasgow's oldest areas, and contains two of its major surviving medieval landmarks – Glasgow Cathedral and the Provand's Lordship. In medieval times, Townhead was ...

are to the west on the opposite side of the A803 road, a dual carriageway urban bypass;

Springburn Springburn () is an inner-city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, made up of generally working-class households. Springburn developed from a rural hamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its industrial expansion began ...

is to the north beyond the sidings and buildings of the former St Rollox railway works and a supermarket built on part of its good depot;

Germiston Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as the m ...

and the

Blochairn Blochairn (, ) is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow, situated north of the River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United King ...

industrial area are situated to the east on the other side of the

North Clyde Line The North Clyde Line (defined by Network Rail as the ''Glasgow North Electric Suburban'' line) is a suburban railway in West Central Scotland. The route is operated by ScotRail. As a result of the incorporation of the Airdrie–Bathgate rail ...

(Springburn branch) railway line; and

Dennistoun Dennistoun () is a mostly residential district in Glasgow, Scotland, located north of the River Clyde and in the city's Glasgow#East End, east end, about east of the city centre. Since 2017 it has formed the core of a Dennistoun (ward), Dennist ...

is to the south on the opposite side of the M8 motorway. Pedestrian footpaths provide access over the roads to Dennistoun and Sighthill, and under their meeting point at the Townhead Interchange towards Glasgow Royal Infirmary. The railway lines once included stations named St Rollox to the north and

Garngad Royston/Roystonhill is a district in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It was previously known as The Garngad and is still known as such by residents that have a familial link and is still displayed in local shops and bars. It is notable for its l ...

to the east, but there are now none serving the area. There are few vestiges of the old Roystonhill in evidence these days other than a few street names, some streets having succumbed to development. The church steeple (a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, formerly Townhead-Blochairn Church) has been converted into a tower monument and the church hall carries on its service as a local community centre. The former convent has been relocated in 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 ...

area further north. The previous stigma of deprivation earned in its slum years has largely been shed with a recent program of newbuild housing and renovations to social housing (three 1960s

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

s at Rosemount Street have been demolished, with five others at Charles Street renovated). The local

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

, denominational primary school and

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

are all named after

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invo ...

. A former member of parliament (MP) for the area, Michael Martin, was

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

from 2000 to 2009. During his tenure, the

UK parliamentary expenses scandal The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal that emerged in 2009, concerning expense claims made by members of the British Parliament in both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and th ...

occurred. The social club for Catholic community was traditionally known as the 'Hibs Hall'. The Hall was sold by the

Ancient Order of Hibernians The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is in the United States, where it was founded in New Yo ...

in 1969 to St. Roch's RC Parish before being sold to a local private concern and renamed "The Huddle Club". The club was burnt down in a fire in the early 21st century. Royston was the venue for street parties celebrating

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a professional Association football, football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football league system, Scottish ...

League wins in 1998 and 2001. The first

street party A block party or street party is a party in which many members of a single community congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual solidarity and enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which ofte ...

was a semi-planned, semi-impromptu gathering along the Royston Road which became the inspiration for the second street party. The street party of 2001 was much more professionally planned and included a stage with live music as well as murals being painted and a video produced to mark the event.Street Party Video on Youtube
/ref> There was controversy surrounding this event as the council has never arranged or permitted any such event for Celtic's rivals, Rangers F.C. from across the River Clyde.

Notable residents

Stevie Chalmers Thomas Stephen Chalmers (26 December 1935 – 29 April 2019) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre-forward and spent the majority of his career with Celtic. He is the club's fifth-highest goalscorer with 236 goals and is cons ...

, footballerGarngad Sports
Royston Road Project * Louie Deadlife, rapper * Jim Forrest, footballer * George Gallacher, singerObituary: George Gallacher, critically acclaimed Glaswegian singer who fronted popular blues band the Poets
The Scotsman *

Jimmy McGrory James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward. He later managed Kilmarnock and Celtic. McGrory is also the all-time leading goalscorer in top-flight Bri ...

, footballer *

Kevin Rutkiewicz Kevin Rutkiewicz (born 10 May 1980) is a Scottish football coach and former player. He managed Scottish League Two club Stirling Albion and Lowland League side East Kilbride. Ruthkiewicz played as a defender for Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Dunf ...

, footballer

References

External links

Royston Road Project

Spire View Housing AssociationRoyston Community Social Networking Site

Life Link Glasgow
(Formerly Royston Stress Centre) {{Areas of Glasgow Areas of Glasgow Irish diaspora in Scotland Springburn

Notable residents

See also

References

External links