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 in the west of Scotland and for the Vicariate Apostolic of the Highland District. The house still stands and has a lime kiln from the time of the seminary within the grounds. Both the house and the kiln are category B listed sites.

History

Before the seminary moved to Lismore, Scottish seminarians were trained at Samalaman House near Loch Ailort. The house was previously owned by Bishop Alexander MacDonald. The seminary was there from 1783 to 1803. The number of students at the college was increasing but the site was quite a small place, cramped and uncomfortable, with leaking roofs and unsubstantial walls. So, from 1798, Bishop John Chisholm started to look for a larger and more suitable location.
In 1803, a property was found that cost £5,000 that had a large enough house and substantial gardens. Somehow the Vicariate was able to afford it. So, Bishop Chisholm founded the new seminary on the island of Lismore. The island was staunchly Presbyterian, and there must have been an unexpected feeling on the island when the inhabitants learned of a Catholic seminary being located in their vicinity.
Objections were also raised by Catholics in Scotland. Samalaman seminary was on the mainland and in an area occupied by Catholics, but the new seminary was on an island with no Catholic inhabitants. Bishop Chisholm dismissed these objections by saying that it was more "accessible here to the world than where I have formerly been at Moidart", and that "we never had more or so much liberty to apply ourselves to learning and spiritual matters in any other place".
In addition to founding the seminary, Bishop Chisholm also ordered the construction of a limestone kiln that was built so that the seminary could benefit from revenues made by a local quarry. The lime kiln made such a local impression that, 1814, when Sir Walter Scott visited the area, he wrote that:
While Lismore seminary served the Vicariate Apostolic of the Highland District, Aquhorthies College in the east of Scotland served the Vicariate Apostolic of the Lowland District. In 1829, with the number of students increasing, it was decided to close both colleges and move the students to the larger St Mary's College, Blairs near Aberdeen.

Preceding seminaries

The seminary at Samalaman was only the latest of a series of attempts made by the Vicariate Apostolic of the Highland District to have a permanent seminary for its students within Scotland. However, various bishops had to almost constantly move the seminaries. This was mainly because Catholic life in Scotland was so fraught and dangerous during the 18th century. Also, it was because of severe financial mismanagement of the funds allocated to the seminaries. This led to considerable stress amongst the Highland district priests and led to friction with their fellow Scottish Catholic Lowland district priests.
Seminary NameLocationOpenedClosedInformationCo-ordinates
Eilean BanLoch Morar17141716It opened on an island in the middle of Loch Morar, but students had to be sent home after the Jacobite rising of 1715. One of the students during that time became Bishop Hugh MacDonald.
Eilean Ban Loch Morar17321738The seminary was opened again after twenty-six years, but became too small for its needs, so the college was moved to Guidal.
GuidalArisaig17381746This was on the mainland, but the students and staff fled when government soldiers approached the college in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745 and burned it down.
GlenfinnanLoch Shiel17681770The seminary was in two rooms of an inn that was built in 1754, in what is now the Glenfinnan Hotel. The rector, John Macdonald, visited the premises and subsequently wrote that it was not a suitable place because of the loudness of the inn.
BuorblachLoch Morar17701774When the seminary moved to Buorblach it had five students and the building needed to be repaired. The seminary closed soon after Bishop Hugh MacDonald died in 1773.
Buorblach Loch Morar17761779The seminary opened again in 1776, but it struggled on for another three years before being permanently closed and the students moved to Scalan College.
SamalamanLoch Ailort17831803The seminary in Samalaman House was on the shore of Loch Ailort in Moidart until it moved to Lismore.