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

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, was from 1829 to 1986 a junior

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

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 or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, 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 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 the only seminary ...

and

Aquhorthies College Aquhorthies College or Aquhorthies House, located between Blairdaff and Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, was a Roman Catholic seminary in Scotland from 1799 to 1829. At the time it was the only Catholic seminary in the east of Scotland. The house sti ...

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 a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

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 property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

in the chapel every week at 9:30am. 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 Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

, 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 Andrew Philip More Boyle (27 May 1919 – 22 April 1991) was a Scottish journalist and biographer. His biography of Brendan Bracken won the 1974 Whitbread Awards and his book ''The Climate of Treason'' exposed Anthony Blunt as the "Fourth M ...

(1919-1991), broadcaster, historian * Robert Fraser (1858-1914) Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld ( la, Dioecesis Dunkeldensis) is one of eight dioceses of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Scotland. On 28 December 2022, the Diocese became sede vacante following the resignation of Bishop Step ...

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 lon ...

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

South Uist South Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Deas, ; sco, Sooth 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 ...

and

Eriskay Eriskay ( gd, Èirisgeigh), 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 2011 census. It lies between South Uist and Barra and is ...

. A highly important figure in

Scottish Gaelic literature Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literature composed in the Scottish Gaelic language and in the Gàidhealtachd communities where it is and has been spoken. Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages, along with Irish ...

Notable Staff

* Edward Douglas, Bishop of Motherwell"Right Rev. Edward Douglas", Diocese of Motherwell
/ref> * Peter Moran, Bishop of Aberdeen

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