Location Kilmore, County Cavan Denomination Church of Ireland Completed 1860 Founder Saint Felim | Country Ireland Founded 1452 Opened 1860 | |
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Website www.kilmorecathedralcavan.wordpress.com Diocese Anglican Diocese of Kil, Elphin and Ardagh Province Anglican Province of Armagh Similar St John the Baptist Cathedral, Lough Oughter, Trim Cathedral, Cloyne Cathedral, Ferns Cathedral | ||
St Fethlimidh's Cathedral, Kilmore is one of two cathedral churches in the Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh (the other is St John the Baptist Cathedral, Sligo) in the Church of Ireland. It is situated in the parish of Kilmore, located about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south-west of the county town of Cavan.
The cathedral stands on an elevated wooded site adjacent to Lough Oughter. One of its more interesting feature is the 12th century Romanesque doorway built into the outside wall of the vestry. The cathedral also possesses an original copy of the first translation of the Old Testament into Irish by William Bedell, Bishop of Kilmore from 1629 to 1642.
History
According to tradition, St. Fethlimidh founded a small church on the site in the 6th century.
In 1452 the old Parish Church of Kilmore became the cathedral for the Diocese of Kilmore, continuing after the Reformation as a 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 for proper use and the present cathedral, designed by William Slater, was rebuilt by 1860 alongside the old one, which is now used as a parochial hall.
The present building has just been 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.