Medieval Dominican Friar Reburied in Scotland

On 29th February 2020, five Dominican friars gathered in Stirling for the reburial of a friar whose remains were discovered a few years ago in the town.

Stirling Council named him the Goosecroft Friar after the area on the edge of the Medieval Stirling where the Priory was located and where he was buried. This man had died between 1280 and 1320 at the age around 25-30 and so probably witnessed and lived through the Wars of Independence. On Tuesday 28th April at 7pm in the Garden Room of St Albert’s, Edinburgh, Dr Murray Cook will talk on ‘The Goosecroft Friar: A Witness to the Wars of Independence’.

His remains had been found during the construction of a new building just opposite the railway station. 

• The lengthy but excellent archeologist’s report can be found here.
• Here is a video made for Stirling Council which features Stirling’s City Archeologist, Dr Murray Cook, in conversation with Bailie Chris Kane as they explain this friar’s significance.

Read the full story with pictures on the St Albert’s Priory website

plus a reflection on the day by Lyn Cronin