Glasgow (St. Kentigern's) Roman Catholic Cemetery
- Country United Kingdom
- Total identified casualties 339 Find these casualties
- Region Glasgow
- Identified casualties from First & Second World War
- GPS Coordinates Latitude: 55.89901, Longitude: -4.2764
Location information
By Road From the M8 exit at Junction 16 and head north on A 879 Craighall Road. Travel 2.5 miles on this road leading into Saracen Street and Balmore Road . Turn left into Skirska Street then second right on Tresta Road. Through the housing estate the entrance St Kentigerns Cemetery is on the right hand side before the main entrance to the Western Necropolis. By Public transport Gilhochil Rail Station is two minutes’ walk from the main cemetery entrance. Trains from Queen Street Station travelling to Anniesland stop at this station.
Visiting information
St Kentigerns Cemetery is part of a complex of several cemeteries north of Glasgow City Centre. Adjoining this site are the following large cemeteries Glasgow Lambhill Cemetery and Glasgow Western Necropolis. All three are separate but adjoin and each other. Glasgow Garnet Hill Hebrew Burial Ground and Glasgow Crematorium Memorial are also at this site.
Vehicle access is prohibited to all sites in the evenings with gates closing at 17.00hr in winter and 18.00hr in the summer, pedestrian access is still possible.
History information
During the two world wars, the United Kingdom became an island fortress used for training troops and launching land, sea and air operations around the globe. There are more than 170,000 Commonwealth war graves in the United Kingdom, many being those of servicemen and women killed on active service, or who later succumbed to wounds. Others died in training accidents, or because of sickness or disease. The graves, many of them privately owned and marked by private memorials, will be found in more than 12,000 cemeteries and churchyards.
Glasgow was one of the ports of embarkation for the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 and several military hospitals opened in the city during the First World War, including the 3rd and 4th Scottish General (1,200 beds each), and the Merryflats War Hospital (500 beds). Battalions of a number of Scottish regiments had their headquarters at Glasgow during both wars, most notably the Highland Light Infantry. The Clydeside shipyards were targeted by German bombers during the Blitz, and Glasgow suffered a particularly ferocious attack on the night of 13/14 March 1941 when many civilians and servicemen were killed.
Glasgow (St Kentigern's) Roman Catholic Cemetery contains 134 scattered burials of the First World War; a small screen wall commemorates those servicemen buried in graves that are not marked by headstones. Most of the 187 Second World War burials are also scattered, but there is a small service group in the centre of the cemetery.
The cemetery also contains 11 war graves of other nationalities and one non-war service burial, that of a New Zealand veteran.