Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a physician and writer, renowned for creating the immortal detective Sherlock Holmes. Less well known is his religious journey, which took him from Catholicism to some very odd places. Born in Edinburgh to a Catholic family (his father was English of Irish descent; his mother was a native of Ireland), his father’s alcoholism shadowed family life, and the senior Doyle would die in an asylum.
Wealthy uncles arranged for Arthur to be sent to Stonyhurst, the elite Jesuit public school; he had unpleasant memories of the place. He was then sent for the 1874-75 school year to the Stella Matutina school – likewise Jesuit – in Austria. From there he returned home to study at the University of Edinburgh medical school, graduating in 1881. He lost his faith soon after he was no longer under the influence of his mother.
