St Fethlimidh's Cathedral, Kilmore is one of two cathedral churches in the
Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh
The United Dioceses of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh is a diocese of the Church of Ireland located in central Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh.
It is one of twelve Anglican dioceses in the island of Ireland. The geograph ...
(along with
St John the Baptist Cathedral, Sligo
St John the Baptist Cathedral, Sligo or more properly the Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin and St John the Baptist, Sligo but also known as Sligo Cathedral is one of two cathedral churches in the diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh (the other ...
) in the Church of Ireland. It is situated in the parish of
Kilmore, southwest of the
county town
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...
of
Cavan
Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...
.
Design
The cathedral stands on an elevated wooded site adjacent to
Lough Oughter
Lough Oughter () is a lake, or complex of lakes, in County Cavan covering more than . The complex of lakes lies on the River Erne, and forms the southern part of the Lough Erne complex. The lakes are bounded roughly by Belturbet in the north, Ca ...
. It features a Twelfth century Gaelic Irish Romanesque doorway (c1170), incongruously set into a chancel north wall, employed as a vestry door. Its origins are unclear, as it had been part of the wall of the earlier cathedral since the 18th century (which became a parish hall). The Romanesque doorway probably was taken from the now demolished Drumlane St.Mary Augustinian priory. However, local belief suggest that the doorway possibly came from the nearby Trinity Island priory church (c 1250). The cathedral possesses an original copy of the first translation of the Old Testament into Irish by
William Bedell
The Rt. Rev. William Bedell, D.D. ( ga, Uilliam Beidil; 15717 February 1642), was an Anglican churchman who served as Lord Bishop of Kilmore, as well as Provost of Trinity College Dublin.
Early life
He was born at Black Notley in Essex, and ...
,
Bishop of Kilmore
The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishopr ...
from 1629 to 1642.
History
According to tradition, St. Feidhlimidh founded a small church on the site in the 6th century.
In 1455 the old Catholic Parish Church of St. Feidhlimidh became the cathedral for the Kilmore Diocese, continuing after the Reformation as Kilmore Church of Ireland cathedral, even after the Kilmore See was amalgamated in 1841 with those of
Elphin and
Ardagh. However, by 1858 the building was too small and dilapidated and the present cathedral, designed by William Slater, was built by 1860 alongside the old one, which is now used as a parochial hall.
["The Cathedrals of the ]Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
" Day, J.G.F./ Patton, H.E. p64: London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, S.P.C.K., 1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
The present building was refurbished at a cost of 1 million euros. The historic 1860 organ, one of the earliest organs built by Charles Brindley of Sheffield was restored in 2011.
See also
*
Dean of Kilmore
The Dean of Kilmore is based at the Cathedral Church of St Fethlimidh in Kilmore in the Diocese of Kilmore within the united bishopric of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. Prior to the 1841 amalgamation the cathedral was in the bishopric of Kilmore an ...
*
Cavan Cathedral
The Cathedral of Saint Patrick and Saint Felim, also known as Cavan Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Cavan, Ireland. It is the seat of the Bishop of Kilmore, and the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kilmore.
Hi ...
in the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Kilmore
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kilmore ( ga, Deoise na Cille Móire; la, Dioecesis Kilmorensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese which is mainly in the Republic of Ireland although a few parishes are in Northern Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan ...
*
List of Cathedrals in Ireland
This article lists the current and former cathedrals of the main Christian churches in Ireland. Since the main denominations are organised on an all-Ireland basis, this article includes information about both jurisdictions: Northern Ireland and ...
References
Kilmore CathedralChristian Heritage Sites-CavanPhotographs of cathedral
{{Authority control
Kilmore
Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh
Churches completed in 1860