St. Aidan

Introduction

Saint Aidan's Church in Aviemore was built in 1951, with first Mass on 23 December 1951. On 8 September 2022, the church celebrated the 70th anniversary of its dedication. The key person in building the church, Anastasia Keogh, is buried at the church.

History

Anastasia Kehoe was born in 1886 at Glenbawn, county Wexford, to Myles Kehoe and Johanna Walsh. In 1915, Alice signed up to serve with the Queen Alexandra Imperial Nursing Service. She was based in Alexandria at the Ras El Tin convalescent hospital, nursing soldiers evacuated from Gallipoli. She provided nursing support to the allied campaign which entered Jerusalem in 1917, and was appointed acting sister of the first field hospital there.

She qualified as a registered nurse in England and Wales in 1923. Anastasia was a trained nurse who served in World War I, mentioned twice in dispatches and possibly awarded the Royal Red Cross. Alice started instructing Catholic children and preparing them for the sacraments. When she built the church, she dedicated it to the 51st Highland Division and the Lovat Scouts.

Keogh also undertook the erection of the Chapel House in honour of the Blessed Mother of God. The dedication on 8 September 1952 was a big event covered in the Catholic press, after which the church was handed over to the diocese.

Keogh died on 24 September 1956 aged 70. The church was dedicated to Saint Aidan on 8 September 1952 by Right Reverend Francis Walsh, Bishop of Aberdeen. In 1950, Miss Keogh decided to build a little church in Aviemore using her life savings and collections.

Saint Aidan's is understood to be one of the few Catholic churches built in the Highlands since the Reformation. Alice's health failed in the mid-1950s; she died in September 1956 and is buried outside the church.

Parish life

The parish has Ministers of the Word, Eucharistic Ministers, Altar Servers, Ministers of Cleaning, and Ushers. The parish has a St Aidan’s Leadership Team (SALT) that helps the parish priest establish aims and objectives for parish life and provides a consultative body. Ministers of the Word in the parish read scripture at daily and Sunday Masses, with training and formation provided. The parish provides information on Baptism, Marriage, Funeral, Sick visit and Anointing of the Sick for Aviemore and Grantown-on-Spey.