by Brendan Geary

The two semi-detached villas which comprise Marist House, formerly known as St. Kentigern’s Hostel, in Partickhill, Glasgow, were bought by Archbishop Eyre in 1874 as a seminary for the Diocese of Glasgow. The diocese was known at that time as the Vicariate Apostolic of the Western District.

A wooden structure was built with a kitchen beside the house and a passageway leading to a large chapel. Some local Catholics attended the seminary chapel for Sunday mass, which was a source of tension with the local parish until a solution regarding mass contributions was resolved! A new seminary was built in Bearsden in 1892 and the Partickhill building became the presbytery for St. Peter’s parish until 1903 when the current parish church was opened. Between 1903 and 1910 the former seminary chapel was used as a billiard hall for men in the parish.