The ''Scottish Catholic Observer'' was Scotland's only national

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

newspaper, founded in 1885. It ceased publication in 2020. It featured news of the

Roman Catholic Church in Scotland The Catholic Church in Scotland overseen by the Scottish Bishops' Conference, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church headed by the Pope. After being firmly established in Scotland for nearly a millennium, the Catholic Church was outlawed fo ...

as well as regular international church news and reports from the Vatican. For most of the twenty first century it was owned by '' The Catholic Herald'' newspaper group. Weekly editions contained local, national and international news, opinion pages, letters, education news and reviews in addition to regular reader competitions. The paper also listed births, deaths and marriages across Scotland. Much of its exclusive news was later picked up by the mainstream media. The paper carried regular features on Scottish Catholic life and history, weekly columnists alongside an

Ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

coverage which keeps readers up to date with Scottish Inter-Church dialogue and projects. The ''Scottish Catholic Observer'' was redesigned and relaunched in 2008 with editor Liz Leydon, a former

Scotsman The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

journalist, and manager Rebecca Rigg. In June 2016, deputy editor Ian Dunn took over as editor, who was succeeded by his deputy Daniel Harkins in 2018. Notable former reporters include SNP MP

Brendan O'Hara Brendan O'Hara (born 27 April 1963) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Argyll and Bute in 2015. He has been the SNP Spokesperson for International Development since De ...

, war correspondent

Francis McCullagh Francis McCullagh (30 April 1874 – 25 November 1956) was an Irish journalist, war correspondent, and author. Career overview McCullagh was born in Bridge Street, Omagh, County Tyrone, in 1874, the son of James McCullagh, a publican original ...

, and Kevin McKenna, columnist for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' and former deputy editor of '' The Herald'' and executive editor of the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' in Scotland.

History

The ''Scottish Catholic Observer'' was created in 1885 as the ''Glasgow Observer''. Its first edition was published on 18 April 1885 by the Glasgow Publishing Company at 58 Renfield Street, Glasgow. It was shortly afterwards bought by Irishman

Charles Diamond Charles Diamond (17 November 1858 – 19 February 1934) was an Irish newspaper entrepreneur and Labour Party politician. Early life Charles Diamond was born on 17 November 1858 in Derry, Ireland. He later emigrated to England, settling in Newc ...

, who would use it and the Preston-based ''Catholic News'' as the basis of '' The Catholic Herald''. The newspaper's early years were overseen by the Glasgow-born managing editor David John Mitchell Quin, who was recruited by Charles Diamond from the English-based ''Catholic Times''. In the twenty first century it was owned by '' The Catholic Herald'' newspaper group, but in March 2016 the newspaper was put up for sale by its owners for a reported fee of £350,000. In March 2020, the paper ceased publication at the time of the first national

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

lockdown, which also saw churches closed. The company was wound up in December of that year.

Editors

:Peter Diamond (2019-2020) :Daniel Harkins (2018–2019) :Ian Dunn (2016–2018) :Liz Leydon (2008–2016) :

Harry Conroy Harry Conroy (6 April 1943 – 24 April 2010) was a trade union leader and journalist. He was the General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists from 1985 to 1990. Born in Glasgow, he attended Lourdes Secondary School in Cardonald. ...

(2000–2007) :Eddie Barnes (1999–2000) :Hugh Farmer (1993–1999) :John MacLean (1990–1993) :Jim Coffey (1977–1990) :Rennie McOwan (1962–1964)

References

External links

''Scottish Catholic Observer'' homepage

Scobserver.wordpress.com
Newspapers published in Scotland Catholic newspapers 1885 establishments in Scotland Publications established in 1885 Catholic Church in Scotland Organisations based in Glasgow Mass media in Glasgow {{Scotland-reli-stub