Church Overview

A fine Neo-Gothic red sandstone church that opened its doors for worship by the growing Catholic congregation of Kilmarnock on 13 June 1847. The architect was a Mr McIlroy and the builder a Mr Gallocher, both from Glasgow and rumoured also to have been the team responsible for St Mary’s Church in Hamilton. The total cost for the new church was £3000, a not inconsiderable sum in the mid-19th century.

The main elevation is south facing and visitors eyes are immediately drawn upwards by the sharp lancet windows and hood moulding, to the four spiky pyramidal finials, the central two of which are bridged by a bold stone cross. A porch was added to the south west in 1970 by architect Sam Gilchrist and the interior was substantially altered by James Robertson Clunie Rowell at the same time. The church’s original ornate High Altar was dismantled and replaced with a much simpler one, its side altars dedicated to Our Lady and St Joseph were removed along with the pulpit and altar rails, all in line with the recommendations made by the Second Vatican Council. Several pieces of marble furnishing were eventually returned to the building in 1997, the work of stonemasons Thomas & Stephen MacMillan of Paisley, to mark the church’s 150th anniversary. A striking blue and pink window by artist Paul Lucky was also installed at the same time.

In 1902, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie contributed £153 towards the £470 purchase price of a brand pipe organ for the church. The church commissioned Harrison & Harrison of Durham to build and install the magnificent instrument, with its with two tracker-action manuals (Swell and Great) and tubular-pneumatic pedals, which was inaugurated in August 1903. The organ is still in use in the church today and nationally recognised with a Grade II Certificate of Historic Listing by the British Institute of Organ Studies. It was fully refurbished by Harrison & Harrison in 2022-2023, 120 year after the same firm installed it. The church now hosts regular organ recitals, often accompanied by its own small choir.

The building and sanctuary were significantly renovated in 2021-22, undoing some of the changes of previous years. The porch was reordered and new entrance doors sympathetically inserted where they had originally been prior to changes made in 1970. The interior, with its vey unusual “egg box” ceiling, was completely transformed with a new colour scheme, predominantly white with gold detailing. A community café also meets in its halls each Tuesday between 11am and 1pm.

Services

Sundays: Mass at 11am, Mondays: Mass at 10am, Wednesdays: Rosary at 10.30am and Saturdays: Vigil Mass at 6pm

Opening Arrangements

Open Mon-Sat from 10am-4pm. Community café in halls on Tuesdays between 11am and 1pm

Disclaimer

The information about churches in Scotland’s Churches Scheme has been provided by the congregations or taken from the Historic Scotland list and published sources, in particular, the Buildings of Scotland volumes and the RIAS Illustrated Architectural Guides. To contact this specific church please complete the Contact this Church form above. The information is not authoritative; please contact Scotland’s Churches Trust to let us know of any errors or omissions.