Archibald McDonald
(Eastern District) Born in Perth, 16th November 1821, the son of Allan McDonald and Anne Cleghorn; dismissed from the college, 12th February 1845, but completed his course in St.-Sulpice and ordained a priest by Bp. Gillis in Blairs, 17th October 1847; vicar general in the Eastern District, 1864-69; died in Dumfries, 26th January 1877.
| Date | Age | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Nov. 1821 | Born Perth | |
| 1836-1838 | 15 |
Blairs |
| 19 Dec. 1838 | 17 |
Arrived in the College |
| 12 Feb. 1845 | 23 |
Dismissed from the College |
| 1845-1847 | 23 |
St-Sulpice |
| 17 Oct. 1847 | 25 |
Ordained a priest by Bishop Gillis in Blairs |
| 1847-1853 | 26 |
St Andrew's, Dundee |
| 1853-1856 | 32 |
Leith |
| 1856-1869 | 35 |
St Mary's, Dundee |
| 1869-1877 | 48 |
Dumfries |
| 26 Jan. 1877 | 55 |
Died Dumfries |
Report of the ordination of Archibald McDonald in the Scottish Catholic Directory of 1848.
Rev. Archibald Macdonald, born near Perth, on the 16th November, 1821, was received in St Mary's College, Blairs, in July, 1836. Having remained there for two years, he was sent, in 1838, to the Scottish College of Valladolid ; thence he went to finish his Theology in the Seminary of St Sulpice, Paris, in 1845, where he was ordained Sub-deacon on the 29th May, by the Archbishop of that city. He returned home in September, and having received Deacon’s Orders at Blairs, was there ordained Priest on the 17th October, 1847, by the Right Rev. Dr Gillis, and was immediately appointed as one of the Clergymen of Dundee.
Obituary of Archibald McDonald in the Scottish Catholic Directory of 1878.
Pray for the soul of the Very Rev. Archibald McDonald, who died at Dumfries on the 26th January, 1877, in the 56th year of his age, and the 30th of his priesthood.
By the death of this distinguished Priest the Scottish Mission has been deprived of one of the most zealous and best-beloved of its Clergy,—one who laboured with untiring energy to promote the cause of Religion, and spent himself in striving to further the interests, temporal as well as spiritual, of those confided to his care. Mr. McDonald was born near Perth on the 16th November, 1821. He was received into Blairs College on the 27th July, 1836, and passed to the Scots College, Valladolid, in November, 1838. In 1845 he proceeded to the Seminary of St. Sulpice, Paris, and there completed the usual course of studies. On his return to Scotland, in 1847, he was ordained Priest by Bishop Gillis at Blairs College on the 17th October, and sent as junior Clergyman to Dundee. From the very outset of his missionary life he distinguished himself by uncommon activity and self-sacrifice, and these qualities were conspicuous in him to the close of his career. He was promoted to the charge of the Mission of Leith in February, 1853; and the three years that he laboured there were productive of many and lasting improvements in the Church, in the Schools, and in the organisation of the Mission.
In June, 1856, he was again stationed in Dundee, as senior Priest at St. Mary's. During his previous residence in the town be had taken a very large part in the erection of the fine Church of St. Mary. He now proceeded to raise a Presbytery in keeping with it; built a large School, which he entrusted to the Marist Brothers; and had the satisfaction, before leaving Dundee, of seeing a large community of these excellent Religious in charge of the congregational schools of the town, and established in a commodious residence which he had bought for them in the immediate vicinity of the Church. He was also instrumental in founding a Convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor at Lochee. Of the fourteen years that he spent at St. Mary’s, scarcely one passed without some substantial addition or improvement. While he was engaged in these material works, he did not slacken his solicitude for his flock in other respects. He exerted himself strenuously in the cause of education; he introduced confraternities, societies, &c.; and, in a word, he adopted every means which his active mind could suggest, to promote the religious and social welfare of his people. He lavished upon them both his care and his money, and they in turn were enthusiastic in their love for him.
In October, 1864, Mr. McDonald was chosen by Bishop Gillis for his Vicar-General, and after the death of that Prelate in the following April, he administered the Eastern District till the accession of Bishop Strain. He continued to hold the office of Vicar-General till 1869. His priestly virtues had long secured for him the esteem of his ecclesiastical superiors; while his genial and warm-hearted disposition ever made him a special favourite with his clerical brethren. He was full of sympathy for the efforts of others, and took a genuine pleasure in promoting them to the best of his power. The Redemptorist Fathers found in him a true friend, when they came to establish themselves in Scotland; and the Marist Brothers were deeply indebted to him, both for their well-being in Dundee, and for their introduction to Dumfries and subsequent remarkable development in that town. In November, 1869, he was transferred to Dumfries. His incumbency makes an epoch in the history of that Mission. The Church was greatly enlarged and beautified, through the generosity of the late Hon. Marmaduke Constable- Maxwell, of Terregles; new schools and teachers’ house were built; the Marist Brothers were invited to Dumfries; and these Religious, besides taking charge of the schools, established a Commercial College and a Novitiate, both of which are now in a very flourishing condition. In all this Mr. McDonald took a prominent part, and the credit of much of it is due mainly to him.
His vigorous constitution was now shattered by thirty years of incessant toil. Towards the end of 1876 he was prostrated by sickness, and during the three months that he lingered on, his piety, patience, and resignation edified all who approached him. On the 26th January, 1877, he entered into his rest. His body was laid out in the Church on the following Sunday. There was a numerous concourse of all classes of the congregation throughout the entire day; and many a sigh and fervent prayer went up to the throne of mercy for the soul of their beloved pastor, as each one knelt and looked for the last time on his calm and peaceful countenance, which was rendered even more amiable and beautiful by the paleness of death. In the evening the spacious Church was densely crowded. After prayers for the dead bad been recited by the Clergy, the whole congregation remained a considerable time in silent supplication, many continuing their prayers to a late hour. At the funeral service, which took place on the Wednesday following, every available place in the Church was occupied, and the towns-people of every rank and denomination were represented. Bishop Strain officiated, assisted by a large body of the Secular and Regular Clergy, and the funeral oration was delivered by the Very Rev. Father Vaughan, of Kinnoull. At the conclusion, the body of this noble-hearted Priest was borne to the vaults beneath the Church.