St Columba's R.C Church

General information

Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Glasgow near the centre and under the hospices of the Holy Ghost Fathers. Built by Coia, opened in 1941.t Columba’s Parish dates from 1906, with the present church being built between 1937 and 1941. On Good Friday, 26 March 1937, Father Denis Flynn submitted an application for a new church in Hopehill Road. The architect, Jack Coia, who was working on the highly acclaimed Catholic Pavilion for the 1938 Empire Exhibition at Bellahouston Park at the time, was commissioned to design the church, which is in the Italian Romanesque style. It was paid for before it was completed, with the parishioners buying the bricks at a cost of sixpence each.
The church was still under under construction at the start of World War II in 1939. In 1941, permission was granted to complete the building work. It is the only church to have been erected in Glasgow during the war, in which 31 young men of the parish were listed as losing their lives.

St Columba's church under construction

The nave of the church was formed from a series of reinforced concrete portals, around which the rest of the church was constructed. The frame is infilled with glass and brick topped by a steep mansard roof finished with interlocking tiles.
The Stations of the Cross, which were created by Hugh Adam Crawford, originally featured in the Empire Exhibition of 1938 at Bellahouston Park.
In the sanctuary, behind the altar, there is a marble reredos and a carved crucifix by sculptor, Benno Schotz, who was Head of Sculpture at Glasgow School of Art from 1938 until his retirement in 1961.