Kirkintilloch (/ˌkɜːrkɪnˈtɪləx/; Scots: Kirkintulloch; Scottish Gaelic: Cair Cheann Tulaich)[5][6] is a town and former barony burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland.

The fort referred to is the former Roman settlement on the wall and the hillock is the volcanic drumlin which would have offered a strategic viewpoint for miles to the West, North and East.

Dating from the mid-2nd century, the Antonine Wall, one of the northernmost frontiers in Roman Britannia was routed through Kirkintilloch; its course continues through the centre of the town to this day, although little trace can now be seen above ground.

There is no strong evidence of habitation on the site for the following thousand years until Clan Cumming established a castle (Motte and Bailey) and church there in the 12th century.

A small settlement grew and was granted burgh status in 1211, becoming an important staging post for west–east journeys from Glasgow to eastern and north-eastern Scotland.

The castle is thought to have been destroyed on the orders of Robert Bruce later in the conflict, although the traces of a mot surrounded by a ditch can still be seen in the Peel Park.

The establishment was part of the endowment of Cambuskenneth Abbey, and was accompanied by a grant of one oxgang of land (approximately 15 acres), the measurement that lent its name to the area near the church.

On 3 January 1746, the retreating Jacobite army of Charles Stuart made its way through Kirkintilloch, on its way back from Derby, and on the march to Falkirk and ultimately Culloden.

One of the Highland army's stragglers was shot dead at the town cross by a man hidden in a barn at the Kiln Close (where the library now stands).

By the 20th century, the principal employers in the town were the shipbuilders J & J Hay and Peter McGregor, and the Lion (1880–1984) and Star foundries, all of which produced goods for the domestic market and for export around the world.

The 1960s development plan to redevelop inner city areas of Glasgow saw Kirkintilloch used as an overspill settlement for relocated Glaswegians in combination with the new towns of Livingston and Cumbernauld, offering employment in housebuilding and an increase to the local population to its current levels.

[22] Kirkintilloch and Lenzie had their own burgh council until the 1975 abolition of the counties of Scotland when it became part of the Strathkelvin local government district within the region of Strathclyde.

A second reorganisation in 1996 established East Dunbartonshire council from Strathkelvin and the adjacent district of Bearsden and Milngavie; with Kirkintilloch is its administrative centre and the council's headquarters at Tom Johnston House in the town, named after prominent early 20th century politician, Secretary of State for Scotland (1941–45) and Kirkintilloch native, Thomas Johnston.

Communities in and around Kirkintilloch include: Cleddans; Harestanes; Hayston; Hillhead; Oxgang; Rosebank; Langmuir; Greens; Fauldhead; Waterside; Westermains; Lenzie: Gallowhill: Whitegates; Back O' Loch; Woodilee; Broomhill etc.

[26] The town is served by the William Patrick Library, which moved from a converted private villa near Peel Park to a new building on West High Street in the 1990s.

All are now closed, although a new leisure centre was opened on the same spot as the old pool in July 2007, providing facilities for tennis, badminton, swimming, football and a gymnasium.

The construction of the new leisure centre came in combination with a wider-ranging artistic, cultural and social regeneration project called Kirkintilloch's Initiative.

The Kirkintilloch Herald[31] is the local newspaper of record, established by town businessman Donald MacLeod in premises on the Cowgate in 1883.

[57] After the town had been without such facilities for the better part of a decade a replacement swimming pool and gym finally opened in July 2007 at Woodhead Park.