Bishop William Bedell was Church of Ireland Bishop of Kilmore from 1629 to 1642 and when he died was buried in the church grounds. His crypt is directly behind the Wilton family grave.
He was by repute a very scholarly and
kindly man and during the catholic rebellion of 1641 he was held in such
regard that when he was impisoned in Clough Oughter castle he was not
harmed.
The bishop is essentially most
famous for translating the old testament into Irish. and one of only 3
copies of the original book can be seen in the cathedral today (the other
copies are in Trinity College, Dublin and Emmanuel College, Cambridge)
As far as I am aware the copies were made in 1683.
(a) (b)
(a) part of Psalm 47 in Irish
(b) the original binding of the book
At Kilmore the present day parochial hall
was originally the cathedral and part of the walls and part of the old
bishop's palace can still be seen. In addition a sycamore tree dating
from the 1600's is planted in the original garden and is one of the earliest
examples of this tree in Ireland. It is reputed to have been planted by
the Bishop himself and experts say that it still has approx 50 yrs left.
(a) (b)
(a) part of the wall of
the Bishop's palace
(b) plaque on entrance
to the grave yard
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(a) view of the parochial ("old" cathedral) In the foreground is the Maxwell grave and behind it and the dandelion is the Wilton grave (i.e.John and Margaret Wilton of the Flatt)
(b) the sycamore tree
(c) parochial hall from the rear
(d) view of the Cathedral from the hall