St John Ogilvie's

A Roman Catholic Parish in the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh

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St John Ogilvie's

We are a small, multi-culture parish in the south-west of Edinburgh. We serve the areas of Baberton Mains, Calders, Clovenstone, Dumbryden, Hailesland, Murrayburn, Sighthill, Westburn and Wester Hailes and are served by Priests of the Society of the Divine Saviour.

From its beginnings in 1970, St John Ogilvie's has always been a living, vibrant community. In more recent times, that community has been greatly enriched by new arrivals from Africa and Poland.

Our Beginings

In the Beginning

The parish was established in 1970 in the then new housing estate of Wester Hailes. This was only months after the first houses in Wester Hailes had become occupied. Very little housing had been built at that time but plans for the area envisgaed that the population would in a short time rise to around 20,000.

Why John Ogilvie?

In 1970 a priest from the Sacred Heart parish was "despached" to Wester Hailes to set up a parish there. The priest in question was Father John McQuade, SJ who became the parish's first Parish Priest. The parish was, at the request of Father McQuade, dedicated to the then Blessed John Ogilvie, a Jesuit martyr.

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No Church Yet!

The first parishioners, some 40 or so of them, were from Dumbryden and Hailesland which were the only two parts of Wester Hailes that had been built by that time. Mass was celebrated in parishioners' houses and in the near-by St Cuthbert's. Later, and until 1978, services were held in 2 local schools. (The photo above shows Sighthill Hammers racing on the church site in the mid-1960s before the church was built.)

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Church and Presbytery Completed

In 1978, the church building was opened and the first Mass was celebrated there on St Andrew's Day, 30 November, 1978. Father McQuade remained as Parish Priest until 1980 when the parish became part of community of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Our first Oblate Parish Priest was Fr Tony Clancy, OMI and he was joined by the then newly ordained Fr Peter Clucas, OMI.

Read more about the Oblates of Mary Immaculate


Our Later Years

We remained part of community of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate for the next 44 years. During that time .....(to be continued!)

A fuller account of the Parish history can be found in the Golden Jubilee Booklet produced in 2022 as part of our Jubilee celebrations.

You can read or download the Booklet here Please ignore the scribbles in some of the margins.