St Mary's Cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. Built in 1814, and originally hidden by its surroundings, the Chapel of St Mary in Broughton Street has grown continually over two centuries and represents a significant element of the Catholic presence in the City of Edinburgh and Scotland.

The Cathedral Archives hold:
- Baptism, marriage and death information for parishioners from 1774
- Catholic Directory for Scotland from 1832 (with some gaps)
- St Mary's Cathedral Magazine and Newsletters from 1907 (with some gaps)
- Photographic Archives relating to the parish and Cathedral community
- Administrative archives for the buildings and fabric of the Cathedral
- Liturgical Archives (including manuscript music of Arthur Oldham and Gregory Ould)
- Educational archives relating to local Catholic schools (no school registers)

The Cathedral Archives also manages an extensive library collection of Scottish and Church history related books.

'St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, Edinburgh: A History, 1814-2014' by Darren Tierney. Published by the Scottish Catholic Historical Association, 2018, is a valuable history of the Cathedral. Available to purchase from the Cathedral website.