Remembering our parish community
A history of St. Paul’s, Foxbar
St. Paul’s holds a treasured place in the Catholic story of Foxbar and Paisley. This page remembers the parish, its church and the people whose faith and service shaped its life.
1960: the parish begins
The parish was founded in 1960, with Fr Luke Brady as its founding parish priest. Parishioners helped raise funds for the new church. Among them was local artist and teacher David Devine, who ran the St. Paul’s Sweep in 1960.
1964: the new church
The church on Brediland Road opened in 1964. Its distinctive building became a familiar part of Foxbar. The photographs below show it in 2014 and 2015.
David Devine’s Stations of the Cross
In 1962, Fr Brady commissioned David Devine (1918–2004) to create the Stations of the Cross for the new church. Devine worked on them for eighteen months in a bedroom of his family’s flat in Spey Avenue. His work combined painted illustrations with leaded glass, hand lettering and oak frames. The Stations were ready for the church’s opening in 1964 and remain a remarkable expression of a parishioner’s artistic skill and devotion.
Read the Devine family’s account and view the Diocese’s photographs of all fourteen Stations.
2024 onwards: remembering St. Paul’s
St. Paul’s parish closed in 2024. On 28 September 2025, a commemorative Mass at St. Mary’s brought people together to remember St. Paul’s and recognise the contribution of its former parishioners to the St. Mary’s community.
Your memories and photographs
If you have photographs, parish newsletters or memories of St. Paul’s, please contact the parish. We would love to help preserve this shared history.
Historical sources: Scottish Catholic Archives, St Paul, Foxbar (SCA/MP/616); Diocese of Paisley, David Devine’s Way of the Cross; Diocese of Paisley, Remembering Saint Paul’s Parish, Foxbar (25 September 2025).