Formerly a village in its own right, it lies to the southwest of the city and is bounded to the south by the White Cart Water.

The area was part of Renfrewshire until 1926 when the villages of Cardonald, Crookston, Halfway and their surrounding farmland were annexed to Glasgow.

[3][4] In the 15th century the lands of Cardonald in Renfrew were the property of Johannes Norwald or Normanville, Dominus of Cardownalde.

He had served as a captain in the Scottish Guards of the Kings of France, and is buried in Paisley Abbey.

[6] As he had no issue, the lands of Cardonald passed to his sister's son, Walter Stewart, 1st Lord Blantyre.

[7] With the death of the 12th Lord Blantyre in 1900, his estates passed to his grandson, William Arthur Baird.

The transformation of Cardonald from a rural to an urban community was largely brought about by the coming of the railway and the tram in the 19th century.

North Cardonald was mostly made up of owner-occupied houses and council homes owned by Glasgow Corporation (the predecessor to Glasgow City Council), while South Cardonald was mostly composed of owner-occupied and privately rented cottage flats.

The first school in the vicinity of Cardonald was established at Halfway in 1790, by a local blacksmith who taught the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic.

The red sandstone church, designed by Peter Macgregor Chalmers, was built 1887-1889 and was dedicated in February 1889.

[15] The local Roman Catholic church, Our Lady of Lourdes, was designed by Stellmacs Ltd and built 1937-1939.

[18] Before this church was built, the congregation, which was formed in 1938, had met in a shop at 2222 Paisley Road West.

The number 9 and 9A buses (First Bus) and 38 (McGills) pass regularly along Paisley Road West.