Our Parish History

The parish of St Bernard's lies at the very outskirts of the City of Glasgow in South Nitshill, and is the last parish in the Archdiocese of Glasgow lying as it does on the border with the town of Barrhead and the Diocese of Paisley. In fact, before the diocese of Paisley was formed, this parish formed part of the parish of St. John's Barrhead. The Parish serves the areas of South Nitshill, Parkhouse and Old Nitshill, all on the south side of Glasgow.

The area of South Nitshill was created due to the 1950s and 60s housing expansion which took place across the city. St Bernard's Parish was opened in December 1960, and the new Church was completed in 1963, to serve the new housing scheme. South Nitshill however did not grow to the size which was originally anticipated, and to compensate, "Old Nitshill", part of St Robert's Parish, was moved into St Bernard's. The parish grew further when private housing was built just off of Parkhouse Road in the 1980s. The original 1960s housing scheme is now largely demolished, with only a few streets remaining. Over the last few years, more private housebuilders have begun to develop the area, with several hundred new family homes being built in the parish. 

St Bernard's has always been a strong parish community, and many who have left the parish for one reason or another over the years still return for the Sunday Eucharist and have a deep bond of love and affection for the parish and the Church.

St Bernard's has had a total of 8 Parish Priests since its formation in 1960. Fr Gerry Dunn oversaw the initial development of the Parish, however his death in 1966 meant that he only spent six years as Parish Priest. He was succeeded by Fr Matt Carney, and it is during this period of time that St Bernard's was widely regarded as being at it's highest point. Fr Carney retired in 1978, coincidentally at the time when the scheme itself began to suffer from a wide range of social problems, in common with many of the Glasgow schemes. He was succeeded by Fr John Brannan, who was Parish Priest for just one year, being then transferred to the Archdiocesan offices by the then Archbishop Winning. His successor, Fr George Crawley, led the Parish until 1987, when he was succeeded by Fr Jim Lafferty. At this time, St Bernard's was designated as a parish of "Special Needs", and Fr Joe McAuley was appointed Parish Priest in 1994. Fr Joe guided the Parish through what was probably it's most difficult phase, given the decline of the local area. He was transferred to St Lucy's, Cumbernauld in November 2005, and Fr Stephen Connolly, Parish Priest of neighbouring St Robert's, was appointed as Parish Priest of St Bernard's as well. At the same time, Mgr Matt Coakley retired as Parish Priest of St James' in Crookston, and began to assist in St Bernard's, helping  Fr Stephen. In August 2006, Archbishop Conti appointed Fr Neil McGarrity as Parish Priest of St Bernard's and St Robert's and Chaplain to St Paul's High. At round about the same time, the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny took up residence in the Parish House, working within the parish in a variety of areas.