A former senior Anglican priest who was paralysed as a result of a fall last summer has died.

Norman Lynas, the former Canon Residentiary at the Anglican Cathedral in Hamilton, fell down a set of steps in Bermuda last July. He was later airlifted to the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts.

He never regained mobility and died from his injuries yesterday.

Educated at St Andrew’s University and ordained in 1980, he moved to Bermuda with his family in 2006 after a period of time in Ireland.

A post on the Facebook page of Saint Canice's Cathedral and Round Tower in Kilkenny, Ireland, said: “It was with great sadness that we learnt, this morning, of the death of Norman Lynas.

“The Dean and Chapter of St Canice's Cathedral, together with the parishioners of the Kilkenny Union of Parishes offer our deepest sympathies to Mary-Claire, Tristan and Adam.”

The Bishop of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory, the Right Reverend Michael Burrows, said: “News of the death In the United States of Norman Lynas will undoubtedly and rightly cause a wave of sadness to pass over Kilkenny.

“Yet that sadness will be accompanied by a myriad of grateful memories. Our sadness is of course accentuated by our awareness of the extraordinarily difficult times Norman and his family have experienced since his catastrophic accident last summer. Reading online posts describing their courage, positivity, faith and resilience in the intervening months has been an inspiration.

“Inevitably we look back now at Norman through the lens of recent suffering, and our memory is textured by the mood that Good Friday inevitably brings.

“Yet it is right that we remember Norman as he really was and as we knew him – full of energy and ideas and faithfulness and fun. Norman was a hard worker, a devoted priest and a kindly pastor … and he was the life and soul of a good party too. He loved to view the whole of life as a foretaste of the heavenly banquets!”

“Soon after I arrived Norman realised that having served for close on two decades in a ministerial task of vast proportions it might be prudent to consider something very different.

“Hence his departure to Bermuda, a place he had come to love … it was an adventurous and noble decision, which brought much sadness to Kilkenny at the time. Yet for him it was the commencement of a whole new fruitful chapter of which others can better speak.”

Canon Lynas was well-known for refereeing rugby games in Bermuda and in a Facebook Mariners RFC said: “Mariners, sad news today. Canon Norman Lynas passed away last night

“Many will remember him not only for his involvement in the rugby community, but also for his happy smile and drink in hand as he sat at Mariners and told rugby stories.

“RIP, good friend.”