St Mary's College, Blairs (commonly known as Blairs College), situated near

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, was from 1829 to 1986 a junior

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

for boys and young men studying for the Roman Catholic priesthood. Part of the former college now houses Blairs Museum, the museum of Scotland's Catholic heritage. The New Chapel is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, with the other buildings listed as Category B.

History

Lying on the south bank of the River Dee, between Kirkton of Maryculter and

, the land on which the seminary was built was originally owned by the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, before passing to the Menzies family in 1542. In 1827 the land was donated by John Menzies of Pitfodfels (1756-1843) to the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, and the original building, Menzies House, converted into a seminary for 25 pupils. In 1829,

Lismore Seminary Lismore Seminary was situated in Kilcheran House on the island of Lismore, Scotland, Lismore in the Inner Hebrides part of Argyll, Scotland. It served as a seminary for the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland in the 19th century. At the time it was ...

and

Aquhorthies College Aquahorthies College or the House of Aquahorthies (alternatively spelt Aquhorthies or Aquhorties); was a Catholic seminary in Scotland from 1799 to 1829. At the time it was the only Catholic seminary in the east of Scotland. The house still stands ...

were merged, then closed and the students moved to Blairs College. A major expansion was executed from 1897 to 1902 with a new chapel by Robert Curran of

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

and new lectures rooms and accommodation by Robert Gordon Wilson of

. The new buildings were formally opened by Bishop Chisholm on 23 September 1903. The college's book collection is housed in Aberdeen University Library, and the archives at the Scottish Catholic Archives. The college closed in 1986, but the chapel continue to be used as a place of worship. There is a Sunday

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

in the chapel every week at 9:30 a.m. In June 2022, it was announced that the chapel would close as a place of worship. A final decision is to be made by the end of September 2022. * The college now homes Blairs Museum, a museum of Catholic History with significant collections of art relating to

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, the Jacobites and the history of Catholicism in Scotland. The museum is open at weekends from April to September or by appointment.

Notable former pupils

* Andrew Boyle (1919–1991), broadcaster, historian * Robert Fraser (1858–1914) Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld The Diocese of Dunkeld () is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in southern Scotland. The current bishop of the diocese is Andrew McKenzie, having been appointed as the diocese’s eleventh bishop on 27 May 2024. History It i ...

Sylvester McCoy Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long ...

, actor * Fr. Allan MacDonald (1859–1904), priest, poet, and folklore collector in

South Uist South Uist (, ; ) is the second-largest island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. At the 2011 census, it had a usually resident population of 1,754: a decrease of 64 since 2001. The island, in common with the rest of the Hebrides, is one of the ...

and

Eriskay Eriskay (), from the Old Norse for "Eric's Isle", is an island and community council area of the Outer Hebrides in northern Scotland with a population of 143, as of the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. It lies between South Uist and Bar ...

. A highly important figure in

Scottish Gaelic literature Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literary works composed in the Scottish Gaelic language, which is, like Irish and Manx, a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Gaelic literature was also composed in Gàidhealtachd communities ...

Notable Staff

Edward Douglas Edward Douglas may refer to: * Edward Douglas (bishop) (1901–1967), Scottish Catholic bishop * Edward M. Douglas (1903–1983), American businessman * Edward Bruce Douglas (1886–1946), American sculptor * Edward Morehouse Douglas (1855–1932), ...

, Bishop of Motherwell"Right Rev. Edward Douglas", Diocese of Motherwell
/ref> * Peter Moran, Bishop of Aberdeen Presidents * Peter J. Grant, 1864–90 * Aeneas Chisholm, 1890–99 Rectors * James McGregor, 1899–1928 * Francis Cronin, 1928–39 * Patrick McGonagle, 1939–47 * Gordon J. Gray, 1947–51 * Stephen McGill, 1951–60 * Francis S. W. Thomson, 1960–64 * Daniel P. Boyle , 1965–67 * James Brennan, 1967–74 * Benjamin Donachie, 1974–80 * Keith P. O'Brien, 1980–85 * John McIntyre, 1985–86

References

External links

Blairs Museum The Museum of Scotland's Catholic Heritage

Blairs College Official website of the 'Friends of Blairs'

Buildings at Risk Register entry

Urban Exploration of Blairs

Another Urban Exploration of Blairs

A third Urban Exploration of Blairs

Article about new development

Site entry at National Record of the Historic Environment
{{Coord, 57.098028, -2.194735, display=title Kincardine and Mearns Religious organizations established in 1829 Educational institutions established in 1829 19th century in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Aberdeenshire Category B listed buildings in Aberdeenshire Listed churches in Scotland Churches in Aberdeenshire Former churches in Scotland Defunct universities and colleges in Scotland Catholic seminaries in Scotland 1829 establishments in Scotland Religious museums in Scotland

History

Notable former pupils

Notable Staff

See also

References

External links