St Mirin's Academy was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

senior secondary school for boys founded in 1922 in Paisley, Scotland, and which closed in 1976. The school was dedicated to St Mirin, the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocacy, advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, ...

of the town and of the

Diocese of Paisley The Diocese of Paisley ( la, Dioecesis Pasletana) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Erected on 25 May 1947 from the Archdiocese of Glasgow, the diocese covers the historic county of ...

. The Academy's

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

motto was ''Fortis et Fidelis'' ("Brave and Faithful"). The original buildings were in East Buchanan Street next to St Mirin's Church. In 1933 the school relocated to new buildings in Renfrew Road. St Mirin's Academy ceased to exist in 1976 when it amalgamated with

St Margaret's Senior Secondary ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

(a girls' school) to become

St Mirin's and St Margaret's High School ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

, which moved into the buildings of the former

John Neilson High School Castlehead High School is a non-denominational, mixed state secondary school in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. It was opened in 1971. In 1989, John Neilson High School (founded as the John Neilson Institution in 1852) merged into Castlehead ...

in 1990, and in turn was supplanted by St Andrews Academy in 2001; there has been no school in the town of Paisley named after St Mirin since then. Neil MacKinnon, the school's longest serving

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

(1948–1975), died on 7 May 2009, aged 99. On 24 April 2010, the former St Mirin's Academy building, then part of the

Reid Kerr College Reid Kerr College was a further education college in Paisley, Renfrewshire. According to its website, it was one of the fastest growing further education institutions in Scotland with over 20,000 students, 650 staff and 300 courses. Reid Kerr off ...

complex, was badly damaged by fire. Estimates of damages ran between £250,000 and £500,000. The building was demolished in October 2010.

Notable alumni

* Gerry Rafferty - singer, musician and songwriter * John Byrne - painter and playwright *

David Hay David Hay (born 29 January 1948) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He broke into the Celtic team in the late 1960s, as one of a generation of players who continued a highly successful era for the club. A contract dispute betwee ...

- footballer * Joe Egan - singer, musician and songwriter *

Hugh Henry Hugh Henry (born 12 February 1952) is a former Scottish Labour Party politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Renfrewshire South, formerly Paisley South, from 1999 to 2016. Background Henry was born in Glasgow and ...

- Labour politician * John Reid - music manager * Willie Young - footballer * James McMillan - author and historian *

Fergus Hall Fergus Hall is a Scottish artist, whose work has been exhibited, at among other venues, the Portal Gallery in London. Early life Hall is a native of Paisley in Scotland. Career Hall is a painter, illustrator and high school teacher. He is bes ...

- artist *

Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as '' Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film '' Tomorrow Never ...

- actorGerard Butler's school pal on how Hollywood star phoned to grovel after branding her a flirt on TV
Daily Record, 28 March 2010 *

James Goodfellow James Goodfellow OBE, KCHS, FIIE (born 1937) is a Scottish inventor. In 1966, he patented personal identification number (PIN) technology and an automated teller machine (ATM). He is generally considered the inventor of the modern ATM. Go ...

- inventor of the ATM * John Duignan - writer and economist *

Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley. Nutini's debut album, ''These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-up, '' Sunny Side Up'' (2009), deb ...

- singer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mirin's Academy Defunct secondary schools in Renfrewshire Defunct Catholic secondary schools in Scotland Educational institutions established in 1922 Educational institutions disestablished in 1976 1922 establishments in Scotland 1976 disestablishments in Scotland Defunct boys' schools in Scotland Schools in Paisley, Renfrewshire Buildings and structures demolished in 2010 Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland