Holy Cross First Priest.
Although Kilsyth and Croy were in different counties and in separate archdioceses, Catholics living south of the Kelvin relied on the Church and school of St Patrick's in Kilsyth for their pastoral and educational needs.
Father John Galvin was appointed first priest in Kilsyth since the Reformation in January 1865. He was succeeded by (John) Canon Murphy from 1873-1889 and (Michael) Canon Turner from 1890-1903.
Catechism classes were already being held in Kilsyth and, with the arrival of Father Galvin, attendance increased from sixty to a hundred. Canon Murphy was responsible for the construction of the first St Patrick's school building in 1874 and, by the 1880's, children from Smithston and Auchinstarry were in attendance there. Canon Turner, based in Kilsyth, was prepared to travel further afield on foot to attend to the needs of local Catholics. In his clerical diary for the years 1890-91, he wrote of a sick call at Croy Row, visiting three Catholic families at Turneyhill near Twechar, calling on a couple in a 'mixed marriage' in Cumbernauld, visiting a partially paralysed man in Condorrat and looking in, on one visit, on half the homes of Smithston Row, which he called 'Little Ireland'. Of Croy he wrote, 'Croy was my pet lamb for the lengthened period of twelve years.'
When the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Scotland was restored in 1878 by a Papal Bull of Pope Leo XIII, the administrative borders of the Church in Scotland were redrawn. The new structure left Croy and Kilsyth in different ecclesiastical areas as they had been before. The nearest church to Croy in the Archdiocese of Glasgow was in Kirkintilloch, while the nearest church geographically was St Patrick's, Kilsyth, in the Archdiocese of Edinburgh and St. Andrews. Archbishop Charles Eyre, Apostolic Administrator of the Western District of Scotland, was determined that Croy and the area around it, being a part of Dunbartonshire, should also remain under his episcopal jurisdiction. As well as the strong historical precedent, he would retain the ability to transfer his priests from a city to a country parish and vice-versa according to his and their needs. Archbishop Eyre died on 27th March 1902.
Archbishop John Maguire (1902-20) was the first Glasgow Archbishop born of Irish immigrant stock. He was responsible for the founding of the Croy Mission. He appointed Father Francis McCann as the new missionary rector (this was the title given to the priest in charge before the title parish priest was introduced in 1946). According to a note inscribed by Father McCann on the first page of his record of baptisms and marriages, Holy Cross Mission was actually founded on Friday 31st October 1902, the day his duties in the new mission began. The founding of the mission however is normally dated from the Feast of All Saints, Saturday 1st November 1902.
The boundaries of the new missionary territory were formed by the Kelvin to the north, the Luggie to the south, by the county border to the east, and on the west by a line which took in Shirva, West Board, Drum Mains and Badenheath. Communities within these boundaries included Croy, Croy Station, Nethercroy, Auchinstarry, Twechar, Drumglass, Smithston, Craiglinn, Condorrat, Cumbernauld, Cumbernauld Station and Castlecary. Isolated places like Auchenbee and Palacerigg were also included.