Social History
Originally known as Kilbirnie Ironworks village, Glengarnock was the title chosen by the community when it became large enough to warrant its own identity. The original Glengarnock was a medieval castle whose ruins are still visible some 3 miles upstream and north of Kilbirnie. The community consisted of a number of migrant workers from Ireland and Lithuania who were brought in to man the works and housed in the "raws", i.e., rows of terraced cottages. A significant community existed with a number of local shops and facilities but these slowly dwindled when the community moved to better housing in Kilbirnie itself and by the 1970s had declined to only a small number of local shops. When the steelworks closed in the 1980s Glengarnock as a village consisted of two pubs, a hairdresser's and a post office.
One of the first libraries in North Ayrshire was formed by Mr William Rabey who opened a Reading room at the Steel Works.
Read more about this topic: Glengarnock
Famous quotes containing the words social and/or history:
“The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values.... Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one.”
—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)
“There is a history in all men’s lives,
Figuring the natures of the times deceased,
The which observed, a man may prophesy,
With a near aim, of the main chance of things
As yet not come to life.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)