St Joseph's, Burntisland

Introduction

In 1886 Archbishop Smith consecrated a room in the old Lochies School in Kinghorn Road for Masses.

History

In 1882 the priest at Kirkcaldy, Rev Patrick Fay, obtained permission for Masses to be said in the Burntisland Town Hall. The Lochies School room was purchased from the Burntisland Shipyard Company in 1923. In 1930 a separate parish consisting of Burntisland, Kinghorn and Aberdour was created. Nellfield, a house of c1800 at 24 Leven Road, was purchased to serve as the Presbytery.

St Joseph's Church was a box-like structure with an asbestos roof, but in 1974 it was a vast improvement in providing more seating. Our Lady of the Assumption in Kinghorn was closed due to structural defects deemed too expensive to rectify, and has since been sold and redeveloped as flats. Three congregations of three towns were forced back to the use of the one church in Cowdenbeath Road, Burntisland. The parish informally twinned with a church in Gdańsk, Poland, resulting in exchanges of parties.

Music and liturgy

During World War II, Polish troops stationed in Aberdour had their own chaplain celebrate Mass there. Mass was celebrated in an oratory in Hillside House by the priest based in Burntisland. Masses continued to be said in Kinghorn in the 'tin church' through the generosity of the Scottish Episcopalian Church. St Teresa's Boys Home became the hub of religious gatherings, meetings, processions and celebrations.

Our Lady of the Assumption in Kinghorn was opened in 1922 by the parish priest, Father Byrne. The chapel had been built in 1846 for the Free Church of Scotland. The Salesian presence in Aberdour came to an end in 1984, the community moving to Edinburgh to take over parish work in Muirhouse. A retired Salesian was allowed to remain, attached to Burntisland Parish.

Parish life

In the 1930s the Archdiocese, with the aid of the Edinburgh Conferences of the St Vincent de Paul Society, purchased Hillside Estate in Aberdour as a holiday home for deprived Catholic children from Edinburgh.

Visiting

Visitors are welcomed, and Mass times are listed in the newsletter. The church is easy to find in Burntisland, a popular coastal resort on the Fife side of the Firth of Forth. The church has often been bursting at the seams, making it difficult to schedule meetings due to demand for facilities including the hall and presbytery.