Head north on the electric rail out of Glasgow toward Loch Lomond. Get off in Dunbartonshire just a tad past Clydebank. The place you want is Old Kilpatrick, which my paternal grandparents left to come to the US.
Here’s the sign outside the church that lays claim to the city being the birthplace of Ireland’s patron saint.
My other photos from 1977 make this place seem quite idyllic. It is only bold stories with promises of grand new adventures in the new world that would make someone want to leave. Or, in the case of the one who became Saint Patrick, Irish raiders who kidnapped him and enslaved him as a shepherd for a number of years.
I am inclined to believe that Kilpatrick is the birthplace of the one who used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish. I can attest to not seeing any snakes in the time I was walking about the Dunbartonshire environs.
Here are some more photos from near the banks of the Clyde.
Now you know why I will always ask for second helpings on the corned beef. My Scottish heritage is the reason that I will always wait for a few days after the holiday to buy the brisket when it is on sale.
The rest of the 1977 Scotland photos can be found over at Traveblogue.co.
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I often browse & check anything about Old Kilpatrick where my grandfather Robert Dunn was born at Church Place 1881. His brother Alexander Nicol Dunn b 1885 became a hero in the village and was awarded the Military Medal in WW1. He was gassed & shot so suffered bad injuries which he eventually died of in 1927 but the Village still remembered & gave him a military style funeral even by then he was a Pauper. He is buried in an unmarked grave in OK. The other brother John Dunn served in India & Africa & years after coming out of the Argyles he enlisted for WW1 & killed in 1918.
Two of Grandads sisters emigrated to New York so we will have relatives over there still.
I am glad the photos were viewed by someone else with a connection to Old Kilpatrick. My grandfather, George Timpany, was born there as well. He emigrated to the US but was able to pay a visit back home late in life. There are a number of relatives from that side of the family that are in the US, a number that are scattered around the UK, and just a few distant cousins that remain near the banks of the Clyde. Thanks so much for your comments. Mark