Killearn

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Killearn (Gaelic: Cill Earnain) is a small village of approximately 1700 people in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The village is located about 18 miles north of Glasgow, and 9 miles away from Loch Lomond. The Glengoyne distillery is also situated just outside the village.

Killearn was also the birthplace of the humanist and scholar, George Buchanan.

George Buchanan (1506-1582) was born at The Moss, Killearn. Educated at Killearn, St. Andrews and Paris, he became a fluent linguist speaking Latin and Greek (superbly according to his pupil, James VI), in addition to French and his native Scots and Gaelic. He was a fluent translator of Hebrew and Spanish and may have spoken Italian.

[edit] Killearn Hospital

Killearn Hospital, situated a few miles south of the village, was one of five commisioned in 1938 in preparation for the war. Building started in 1939 and also complete in 1941 in time for the air raids on Clydebank and other Clydeside towns, which could be seen and heard in Killearn.

Local people had been asked to assist in getting the hospital ready to meet the emergency. As well as air raid casualties it was used for treatment of sick and wounded servicemen, injured seamen from convoys arriving in the Clyde, essential war workers, pensioners and Prisoners-of-War. It played an important part in the Clyde Valley Scheme for urgent treatment and care of war workers and was also used for emergency cases from the surrounding population.

The hospital had close links with Glasgow Western Infirmary but had several special units of its own. The orthopaedic and neurosurgical units were famous throughout Scotland, the latter being transferred to the Southern General Hospital.

The hospital was desgined to provide 640 emergeny beds, but after the War its total bed complement was 404.

The distance from Glasgow casued problems with the transportation of emergency cases and of visitors and nursing staff.

The hospital was eventually abandoned in the early 1970's.