Armagh
Encyclopedia
Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland
, and the county town
of County Armagh
. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church
and the Church of Ireland
, of the Archbishop of Armagh
. In 1995, Armagh city was twinned with Razgrad
, Bulgaria.
Although classed as a medium-sized town, Armagh was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II
in 1994. Its population of 14,590 (2001 Census
) makes it the least-populated city in both Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland
and the fourth smallest in the United Kingdom
.
ritual or ceremonial site. According to Irish mythology
it was once the capital of Ulster
, until it was abandoned during the 1st century. The site was named after the goddess
Macha
, and as the settlement grew on the hills nearby, it was also named after the goddess — Ard Mhacha means "Macha's height". This name was later anglicised
as Ardmagh, which eventually became Armagh.
When Christianity
spread to Ireland during the mid-400s, Armagh became the island's "ecclesiastical capital", as Saint Patrick
established his principal church there. Saint Patrick decreed that only those educated in Armagh could spread the gospel. According to the Annals of the Four Masters
, in the year 457:
in Armagh was raided by Viking
s. As with similar raids, their objective was simply to acquire valuables such as silver, which the churches and monasteries often kept.
The Book of Armagh
came from the monastery. It is a 9th century Irish manuscript now held by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin
(ms 52). It contains some of the oldest surviving specimens of Old Irish.
Brian Boru
is believed to be buried in the cemetery of the St. Patrick's Church of Ireland cathedral
. After having conquered the island during the 990s, he became High King of Ireland
in 1002, until his death in 1014.
In 1189, John de Courcy
, a Norman
knight who had invaded Ulster
in 1177, plundered Armagh.
in 1608 and the Armagh Observatory
in 1790. This was part of the Archbishop's plan to have a university founded in the city. This ambition was finally fulfilled, albeit briefly, in the 1990s when Queen's University of Belfast
opened an outreach centre in the former hospital building.
Three brothers from Armagh died at the Battle of the Somme during World War I
. None of the three has a known grave and all are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. A fourth brother was wounded in the same attack.
On 14 January 1921, during the Irish War of Independence
, a Royal Irish Constabulary
(RIC) sergeant was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army
(IRA) in Armagh. He was attacked with a grenade as he walked along Market Street and later died of his wounds. On 4 September 1921, Michael Collins
and Eoin O'Duffy
addressed a large meeting in Armagh, which was attended by up to 10,000 people.
The average age was 35.2 years (NI average age 35.8 years). For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service
system. The nearest Met Office standard weather station, at Armagh Observatory, provides long term weather data back to 1844. During that time, the highest temperature to be recorded was 30.3 °C (86.5 °F) on the 10th July 1934. The lowest temperature was -15.1 C on the 7th February 1895.
Typically, the warmest day of the year will reach 26.1 °C (79 °F), and 3.7 days a year should attain a maximum temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.
Typically the coldest night of the year should fall to -6.8 C and 40.4 nights should register an air frost. All averages refer to the 1971-2000 observation period.
Armagh is the site of two cathedral
s, both on hills and both named after Saint Patrick
. The Church of Ireland cathedral
dates back to around 445. The present-day, post-Reformation, Roman Catholic cathedral
was constructed during the latter half of the 1800s and features twin 64m spire
s, making it the tallest such structure in the county. Armagh is the only city in the world which is home to two cathedrals of the same name.
Armagh has a Georgian
area of heritage importance. Perhaps one of the more well known of the buildings is the former women's prison. The construction of Armagh Gaol began in 1780 and was extended in the 1840s and 1850s; the front facade of the prison being built in the Georgian style, while the later development, based on the design of Pentonville (HM Prison), is Victorian. For most of its working life it was a women's prison although not exclusively so. Armagh Gaol was the primary women's prison in the north of Ireland. In 1986 the prison closed and its prisoners were transferred to the new prison at Maghaberry (HM Prison)
.
The city is home to the Armagh Observatory
, founded in 1790, and to the Armagh Planetarium
, established in 1968 to complement the research work of the Observatory. The palace of the Archbishop of Armagh is now the local council offices and, along with the archbishop's private chapel, is open to the public. The Palace Stables heritage centre is a reconstructed stable
block dating from the 1700s, which was once part of the Archbishop's estate.
Among the city's chief glories is the public library on Abbey Street. Founded in 1771 by Archbishop Richard Robinson
(later Lord Rokeby), using his own library as its nucleus, it is especially rich in 17th and 18th century English books, including Dean Jonathan Swift
's own copy of the first edition of his Gulliver's Travels
with his manuscript corrections.
Armagh Market House was built in 1815 as a two-storey five-bay building, and is currently used as a library
.
To combat the problem of a diminishing city centre and to address the concerns of local people, Armagh City and District Council
decided to upgrade the surfaces and general appearance of the main shopping areas.
The scheme aims to deal with the many issues raised by the public and businesses over recent years. It will regenerate the centre of Armagh, transforming it into a high-quality pedestrian-friendly environment. The ineffective pedestrian area in Market Street will be opened officially to vehicles. The scheme will provide wider footpaths, pedestrian crossings and disabled parking throughout the city centre to improve safety and accessibility.
As well as these new street layouts the appearance of the city centre will be enhanced by new lighting, paving, seating, bins and greenery. The use of quality stone materials, public art projects and feature lighting will contribute to the overall effect and present the city’s famous architecture at its best. A shop frontage scheme will be launched toward the end of the street development project.
The scheme includes eleven streets: Market Street, Thomas Street, Ogle Street, Scotch Street, Dobbin Street, Dobbin Street Lane, Barrack Street, McCrum's Court, Upper English Street, Russell Street, Ogle Street and Linenhall Street.
The £5m Armagh City Centre Regeneration Scheme is funded by Armagh City and District Council, the Department for Social Development
, the Roads Service and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland
.
, headquartered in Armagh, which covers a larger area than just the city, but not the entire county. Together with part of the district of Newry and Mourne, it forms the Newry & Armagh constituency
for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly
. The Member of Parliament
is Conor Murphy
of Sinn Féin
, who is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army
prisoner and a member of the Sinn Féin negotiations team. He won the seat in the United Kingdom general election, 2005
, after the retirement of long-serving SDLP
MP Seamus Mallon
.
The Southern Education and Library Board
and the Southern Health and Social Services Board have their headquarters in the city, which has a long reputation as an administrative centre.
The secretariat of the North/South Ministerial Council
is based in Armagh, and consists jointly of members of the civil services of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
.
Armagh is the seat of both the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, both of whom hold the position of Primate of All Ireland for their respective denominations.
linked Armagh with Belfast
in 1848 and Monaghan
in 1858. The Newry and Armagh Railway (N&A) opened in 1864 and the Castleblaney, Keady and Armagh Railway (CK&A) was completed in 1910. In 1876 the Ulster Railway became part of the new Great Northern Railway
(GNR), which took over the N&A in 1879 and the CKA in 1911.
The Armagh rail disaster
, which killed 80 people, occurred on 12 June 1889 on the N&A line near Armagh.
The partition of Ireland
in 1922 hastened the railways' decline, and the GNR closed the Keady
– Castleblayney
section of the CKA in 1923. The GNR withdrew passenger trains from the Armagh – Keady section of the CKA in 1922 and closed the Armagh – Markethill
section of the N&A in 1933. The Government of Northern Ireland
forced the GNR Board close all remaining lines serving Armagh railway station
on 1 October 1957: the goods branch from Armagh to Keady and the main line through Armagh from as far as the border at Glaslough
on the way to Monaghan.
is the local association football club, and the City of Armagh Rugby Club is the local rugby club. Gaelic football
is represented by Armagh Harps and Pearse Óg
s. The local GAA handball club is Eugene Quinn's, named after a player from the Armagh area who died on an attempted swim from Tory Island
to the coast of Donegal
. The local hurling club is Armagh Cúchulainns.
In 2004 the Royal School, Armagh
became only the second team in history to win both the schools' rugby
and hockey
cups in the same year.
The Mall
in Armagh has a long association with cricket
, and is the location of the Armagh Cricket Club
clubhouse.
of Armagh. Like the rest of Ireland
, this parish has long been divided into townland
s, whose names mostly come from the Irish language
. Over time, more townlands have been built upon and they have lent their names to many streets, roads and housing estates.
In 1830, most of Armagh's urban townlands were amalgamated (for administration) and became known as Corporation Lands or simply Corporation. However, the surrounding townlands remained as separate units and they were eventually built upon too. They are listed below alongside their likely etymologies
.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and the county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and the Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
, of the Archbishop of Armagh
Archbishop of Armagh
The Archbishop of Armagh is the title of the presiding ecclesiastical figure of each of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland in the region around Armagh in Northern Ireland...
. In 1995, Armagh city was twinned with Razgrad
Razgrad
Razgrad is a city in northeastern Bulgaria, administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Razgrad Province. As of February 2011, it has a population of 33,238 inhabitants.-History:...
, Bulgaria.
Although classed as a medium-sized town, Armagh was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
in 1994. Its population of 14,590 (2001 Census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
) makes it the least-populated city in both Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and the fourth smallest in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Foundation
Eamhain Mhacha (or Navan Fort) at the city's edge, is believed to have been used as an ancient paganCeltic polytheism
Celtic polytheism, commonly known as Celtic paganism, refers to the religious beliefs and practices adhered to by the Iron Age peoples of Western Europe now known as the Celts, roughly between 500 BCE and 500 CE, spanning the La Tène period and the Roman era, and in the case of the Insular Celts...
ritual or ceremonial site. According to Irish mythology
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
it was once the capital of Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
, until it was abandoned during the 1st century. The site was named after the goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
Macha
Macha
Macha is the name of a goddess and several other characters in Irish mythology.Macha can also mean:*The LÉ Macha , a ship in the Irish Naval Service, named for the goddess*The Macha crater in Russia, less than 7000 years old...
, and as the settlement grew on the hills nearby, it was also named after the goddess — Ard Mhacha means "Macha's height". This name was later anglicised
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
as Ardmagh, which eventually became Armagh.
When Christianity
Celtic Christianity
Celtic Christianity or Insular Christianity refers broadly to certain features of Christianity that were common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages...
spread to Ireland during the mid-400s, Armagh became the island's "ecclesiastical capital", as Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
established his principal church there. Saint Patrick decreed that only those educated in Armagh could spread the gospel. According to the Annals of the Four Masters
Annals of the Four Masters
The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...
, in the year 457:
Ard Mhacha was founded by Saint Patrick, it having been granted to him by Daire, son of Finnchadh, son of Eoghan, son of Niallan. Twelve men were appointed by him for building the town. He ordered them, in the first place, to erect an archbishop's city there, and a church for monks, for nuns, and for the other orders in general, for he perceived that it would be the head and chief of the churches of Ireland in general.
Medieval era
In 839 and 869, the monasteryMonastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in Armagh was raided by Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s. As with similar raids, their objective was simply to acquire valuables such as silver, which the churches and monasteries often kept.
The Book of Armagh
Book of Armagh
The Book of Armagh or Codex Ardmachanus , also known as the Canon of Patrick and the Liber Armachanus, is a 9th-century Irish manuscript written mainly in Latin. It is held by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin...
came from the monastery. It is a 9th century Irish manuscript now held by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
(ms 52). It contains some of the oldest surviving specimens of Old Irish.
Brian Boru
Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...
is believed to be buried in the cemetery of the St. Patrick's Church of Ireland cathedral
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (Church of Ireland)
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh is the seat of the Archbishop of Armagh in the Church of Ireland. It is found in Armagh, Northern Ireland.-History:...
. After having conquered the island during the 990s, he became High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
in 1002, until his death in 1014.
In 1189, John de Courcy
John de Courcy
John de Courcy was a Anglo-Norman knight who arrived in Ireland in 1176. From then until his expulsion in 1204, he conquered a considerable territory, endowed religious establishments, built abbeys for both the Benedictines and the Cistercians and built strongholds at Dundrum Castle in County...
, a Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
knight who had invaded Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
in 1177, plundered Armagh.
Modern era
Armagh has been an educational centre since the time of Saint Patrick, and thus it has been referred to as "the city of saints and scholars". The educational tradition continued with the foundation of the Royal SchoolThe Royal School, Armagh
The Royal School, Armagh is a co-educational voluntary grammar school in the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. It was one of a number of free schools created by King James I of England in 1608 to provide an education to the sons of local merchants and farmers during the plantation...
in 1608 and the Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory is a modern astronomical research institute with a rich heritage, based in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are actively studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy, and the Earth's climate....
in 1790. This was part of the Archbishop's plan to have a university founded in the city. This ambition was finally fulfilled, albeit briefly, in the 1990s when Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
opened an outreach centre in the former hospital building.
Three brothers from Armagh died at the Battle of the Somme during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. None of the three has a known grave and all are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. A fourth brother was wounded in the same attack.
On 14 January 1921, during the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
, a Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
(RIC) sergeant was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
(IRA) in Armagh. He was attacked with a grenade as he walked along Market Street and later died of his wounds. On 4 September 1921, Michael Collins
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...
and Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy was in succession a Teachta Dála , the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army , the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the Army Comrades Association and then the first leader of Fine Gael , before leading the Irish Brigade to fight for Francisco Franco during...
addressed a large meeting in Armagh, which was attended by up to 10,000 people.
2001 Census
The population of Armagh City on Census day (29 April 2001) was 14,590 people, of whom:- 25.1% were aged under 16 years;
- 17.5% were aged 60 and over;
- 48.1% were male and 51.9% were female;
- 68.3% were from a Catholic community background;
- 30.2% were from a Protestant or other Christian community background;
- 11.6% were born outside Northern Ireland; and
- 1.0% were from an ethnic group other than white.
The average age was 35.2 years (NI average age 35.8 years). For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service
Climate
Armagh has, like most of Ireland, a temperate maritime climate (Cfb) according to the Koppen climate classificationKöppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
system. The nearest Met Office standard weather station, at Armagh Observatory, provides long term weather data back to 1844. During that time, the highest temperature to be recorded was 30.3 °C (86.5 °F) on the 10th July 1934. The lowest temperature was -15.1 C on the 7th February 1895.
Typically, the warmest day of the year will reach 26.1 °C (79 °F), and 3.7 days a year should attain a maximum temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.
Typically the coldest night of the year should fall to -6.8 C and 40.4 nights should register an air frost. All averages refer to the 1971-2000 observation period.
Notable buildings
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
s, both on hills and both named after Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
. The Church of Ireland cathedral
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (Church of Ireland)
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh is the seat of the Archbishop of Armagh in the Church of Ireland. It is found in Armagh, Northern Ireland.-History:...
dates back to around 445. The present-day, post-Reformation, Roman Catholic cathedral
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (Roman Catholic)
The present Catholic St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh, Northern Ireland was built to replace the medieval Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, which has been retained by the Church of Ireland since the Protestant Reformation....
was constructed during the latter half of the 1800s and features twin 64m spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
s, making it the tallest such structure in the county. Armagh is the only city in the world which is home to two cathedrals of the same name.
Armagh has a Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
area of heritage importance. Perhaps one of the more well known of the buildings is the former women's prison. The construction of Armagh Gaol began in 1780 and was extended in the 1840s and 1850s; the front facade of the prison being built in the Georgian style, while the later development, based on the design of Pentonville (HM Prison), is Victorian. For most of its working life it was a women's prison although not exclusively so. Armagh Gaol was the primary women's prison in the north of Ireland. In 1986 the prison closed and its prisoners were transferred to the new prison at Maghaberry (HM Prison)
Maghaberry
Maghaberry or Magaberry is a village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is 9 kilometres west of Lisburn and 4 kilometres north of Moira. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,696 people...
.
The city is home to the Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory is a modern astronomical research institute with a rich heritage, based in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are actively studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy, and the Earth's climate....
, founded in 1790, and to the Armagh Planetarium
Armagh Planetarium
Armagh Planetarium is a planetarium located in Armagh, Northern Ireland close to the city centre and neighbouring Armagh Observatory in approximately fourteen acres of landscaped grounds known as the Armagh Astropark.- History :...
, established in 1968 to complement the research work of the Observatory. The palace of the Archbishop of Armagh is now the local council offices and, along with the archbishop's private chapel, is open to the public. The Palace Stables heritage centre is a reconstructed stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
block dating from the 1700s, which was once part of the Archbishop's estate.
Among the city's chief glories is the public library on Abbey Street. Founded in 1771 by Archbishop Richard Robinson
Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby
Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby was an Irish ecclesiastic.Robinson came to Ireland as chaplain to the Duke of Dorset in 1751. He was translated from the See of Kildare to the Archbishopric of Armagh in 1765....
(later Lord Rokeby), using his own library as its nucleus, it is especially rich in 17th and 18th century English books, including Dean Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
's own copy of the first edition of his Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, better known simply as Gulliver's Travels , is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of...
with his manuscript corrections.
Armagh Market House was built in 1815 as a two-storey five-bay building, and is currently used as a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
.
City centre regeneration
Armagh City and District Council
Armagh City and District Council is a district council in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It includes the city of Armagh, as well as the surrounding area and its population is about 54,000. City status was officially conferred in 1995...
decided to upgrade the surfaces and general appearance of the main shopping areas.
The scheme aims to deal with the many issues raised by the public and businesses over recent years. It will regenerate the centre of Armagh, transforming it into a high-quality pedestrian-friendly environment. The ineffective pedestrian area in Market Street will be opened officially to vehicles. The scheme will provide wider footpaths, pedestrian crossings and disabled parking throughout the city centre to improve safety and accessibility.
As well as these new street layouts the appearance of the city centre will be enhanced by new lighting, paving, seating, bins and greenery. The use of quality stone materials, public art projects and feature lighting will contribute to the overall effect and present the city’s famous architecture at its best. A shop frontage scheme will be launched toward the end of the street development project.
The scheme includes eleven streets: Market Street, Thomas Street, Ogle Street, Scotch Street, Dobbin Street, Dobbin Street Lane, Barrack Street, McCrum's Court, Upper English Street, Russell Street, Ogle Street and Linenhall Street.
The £5m Armagh City Centre Regeneration Scheme is funded by Armagh City and District Council, the Department for Social Development
Department for Social Development
The Department for Social Development is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for Social Development.-Aim:...
, the Roads Service and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Arts Council of Northern Ireland
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is the lead development agency for the arts in Northern Ireland....
.
Administration
The city is run by Armagh City and District CouncilArmagh City and District Council
Armagh City and District Council is a district council in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It includes the city of Armagh, as well as the surrounding area and its population is about 54,000. City status was officially conferred in 1995...
, headquartered in Armagh, which covers a larger area than just the city, but not the entire county. Together with part of the district of Newry and Mourne, it forms the Newry & Armagh constituency
Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)
Newry and Armagh is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The seat was created in boundary changes in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from the old Armagh constituency with the...
for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
. The Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
is Conor Murphy
Conor Murphy
Conor Terence Murphy is an Irish republican Sinn Féin politician.According to An Phoblacht, Murphy first became involved with the Irish Republican Army during the 1981 hunger strikes...
of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
, who is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
prisoner and a member of the Sinn Féin negotiations team. He won the seat in the United Kingdom general election, 2005
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, after the retirement of long-serving SDLP
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
MP Seamus Mallon
Seamus Mallon
Seamus Frederick Mallon born 17 August 1936, in Markethill, County Armagh, is an Irish politician and former Deputy Leader of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland...
.
The Southern Education and Library Board
Southern Education and Library Board
The Southern Education and Library Board is a board providing education and library services in the southern districts of Northern Ireland: namely the district councils of Armagh, Banbridge, Cookstown, Craigavon, Dungannon and South Tyrone, and Newry and Mourne...
and the Southern Health and Social Services Board have their headquarters in the city, which has a long reputation as an administrative centre.
The secretariat of the North/South Ministerial Council
North/South Ministerial Council
The North/South Ministerial Council is a body established under the Belfast Agreement to co-ordinate activity and exercise certain governmental powers across the whole island of Ireland...
is based in Armagh, and consists jointly of members of the civil services of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
.
Armagh is the seat of both the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, both of whom hold the position of Primate of All Ireland for their respective denominations.
Education
Primary
- Armstrong Primary School
- Christian Brothers Primary School ArmaghChristian Brothers Primary School ArmaghIn 1841 Cardinal Cullen invited the Congregation of Christian Brothers to start a school for boys in Armagh. The first Christian Brothers Primary School was situated in Irish Street Armagh in 1851 with a school in Greenpark opening in 1854.In the mid 1990s the primary took over the former grammar...
- The Drelincourt Primary School
- Dromintee Primary School
- Drumhillery Primary School
- Mount St Catherine's Primary School
- Saints and Scholars Integrated Primary School
- St. Malachy's Primary School
- St. Patrick's Primary School
Post-primary
- City of Armagh High SchoolCity of Armagh High SchoolThe City of Armagh High School is located in the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is one of six schools in the Armagh City.The City of Armagh High School teaches children ages 11-18. The school opened in 1965. It has excellent subjects to chose from in GCSEs and has a reputation of very high...
- The Royal School, ArmaghThe Royal School, ArmaghThe Royal School, Armagh is a co-educational voluntary grammar school in the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. It was one of a number of free schools created by King James I of England in 1608 to provide an education to the sons of local merchants and farmers during the plantation...
- St. Brigid's High SchoolSt. Brigid's High SchoolSt. Brigid's High School is a secondary school located on the edge of Armagh City, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The school was founded in 1971. It is the only Catholic Maintained Boys' Non-Grammar School in Armagh City, with around 210 pupils. The school motto is: "Feabhas a chur ar" which...
- St. Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh
- St. Catherine's College, ArmaghSt Catherine's College ArmaghSaint Catherine's College Armagh is a maintained Catholic all-ability school catering for the 11-18 age group and is associated with the international group of schools served by the Society of the Sacred Heart....
- Southern Regional CollegeSouthern Regional CollegeSouthern Regional College is the name of the new regional further and higher education college in the Southern area of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom....
Transport
The Ulster RailwayUlster Railway
The Ulster Railway was a railway company operating in Ulster, Ireland. The company was incorporated in 1836 and merged with two other railway companies in 1876 to form the Great Northern Railway .-History:...
linked Armagh with Belfast
Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station
Belfast Great Victoria Street is a major railway station serving the city centre of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is one of two major stations in the city, along with , and is one of the four stations located in the city centre, the others being Belfast Central, and . It is near Great Victoria...
in 1848 and Monaghan
Monaghan
Monaghan is the county town of County Monaghan in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 7,811 . The town is located on the main road, the N2 road, from Dublin north to both Derry and Letterkenny.-Toponym:...
in 1858. The Newry and Armagh Railway (N&A) opened in 1864 and the Castleblaney, Keady and Armagh Railway (CK&A) was completed in 1910. In 1876 the Ulster Railway became part of the new Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Ireland)
The Great Northern Railway was an Irish gauge railway company in Ireland.The Great Northern was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway , Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The Ulster Railway was the GNRI's oldest constituent, having opened between Belfast and...
(GNR), which took over the N&A in 1879 and the CKA in 1911.
The Armagh rail disaster
Armagh rail disaster
The Armagh rail disaster happened on 12 June 1889 near Armagh, Ireland when a crowded Sunday school excursion train had to negotiate a steep incline; the steam locomotive was unable to complete the climb and the train stalled. The train crew decided to divide the train and take forward the front...
, which killed 80 people, occurred on 12 June 1889 on the N&A line near Armagh.
The partition of Ireland
Partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
in 1922 hastened the railways' decline, and the GNR closed the Keady
Keady
Keady is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is situated south of Armagh city and very close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. The town had a population of 2,960 people in the 2001 Census....
– Castleblayney
Castleblayney
Castleblayney or Castleblaney is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town has a population of about 3,000.Castleblayney lies near the border with County Armagh and is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry...
section of the CKA in 1923. The GNR withdrew passenger trains from the Armagh – Keady section of the CKA in 1922 and closed the Armagh – Markethill
Markethill
Markethill is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,292 people. It sits at the southern side of Gosford Forest Park...
section of the N&A in 1933. The Government of Northern Ireland
Government of Northern Ireland
The Government of Northern Ireland is, generally speaking, whatever political body exercises political authority over Northern Ireland. A number of separate systems of government exist or have existed in Northern Ireland....
forced the GNR Board close all remaining lines serving Armagh railway station
Armagh railway station
Armagh railway station was a railway station that served Armagh in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.-Development:The Ulster Railway opened Armagh station in 1848, linking the city with Belfast...
on 1 October 1957: the goods branch from Armagh to Keady and the main line through Armagh from as far as the border at Glaslough
Glaslough
Glaslough is a village and townland in the north of County Monaghan, Ireland, on the R185 regional road south of the border with Northern Ireland and northeast of Monaghan Town. Glaslough won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1978. Castle Leslie, the large Victorian country house and luxury...
on the way to Monaghan.
Sport
Armagh City Football ClubArmagh City F.C.
Armagh City F.C. is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Championship 2. The club, founded in 1964 as Milford Everton, and originally hailed from the village of Milford, just outside Armagh city, but changed their name in 1988 on relocation to Armagh...
is the local association football club, and the City of Armagh Rugby Club is the local rugby club. Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
is represented by Armagh Harps and Pearse Óg
Pearse Óg
Pearse Óg GFC is a Gaelic Athletic Association club from County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1950 as a result of the popular street leagues that were running at the time. 'Na Piarsaigh Óga', roughly translated as the 'Young Pearse's', take their name from the Irish Republicans...
s. The local GAA handball club is Eugene Quinn's, named after a player from the Armagh area who died on an attempted swim from Tory Island
Tory Island
Toraigh is an inhabited island 14.5 km off the northwest coast of County Donegal, Ireland. It is also known in Irish as Oileán Thoraigh, Oileán Thoraí or Oileán Thúr Rí.-Language:The main spoken language on the island is Irish, but English is also understood...
to the coast of Donegal
Donegal
Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....
. The local hurling club is Armagh Cúchulainns.
In 2004 the Royal School, Armagh
The Royal School, Armagh
The Royal School, Armagh is a co-educational voluntary grammar school in the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. It was one of a number of free schools created by King James I of England in 1608 to provide an education to the sons of local merchants and farmers during the plantation...
became only the second team in history to win both the schools' rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
cups in the same year.
The Mall
The Mall, Armagh
The Mall is a cricket ground in Armagh, Northern Ireland. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1966, when Ulster Country played Munster. In 2005, the ground hosted a List A match in the 2005 ICC Trophy between Denmark and the United States, which Denmark won by 96 runs.The ground is used...
in Armagh has a long association with cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, and is the location of the Armagh Cricket Club
Armagh Cricket Club
Armagh Cricket Club is a cricket club in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, playing in Section 2 of the NCU Senior League.The club was formed in 1859....
clubhouse.
Townlands
Armagh is within the civil parishCivil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
of Armagh. Like the rest of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, this parish has long been divided into townland
Townland
A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...
s, whose names mostly come from the Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
. Over time, more townlands have been built upon and they have lent their names to many streets, roads and housing estates.
In 1830, most of Armagh's urban townlands were amalgamated (for administration) and became known as Corporation Lands or simply Corporation. However, the surrounding townlands remained as separate units and they were eventually built upon too. They are listed below alongside their likely etymologies
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
.
- Aghamoat
- Ballynahone Beg (from Baile [Beag] na hAbhann meaning "[small] townland of the river") - part of Lisnadill parish
- Ballynahone More (from Baile [Mór] na hAbhann meaning "[large] townland of the river")
- Cargagh (from Cairgeach meaning "rocky land")
- Cavanacaw (from Cabhán na Cáithe meaning "hollow of the chaffChaffChaff is the dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain, or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material such as scaly parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw...
") - Drumadd (from Druim-fhad meaning "long ridge")
- Drumarg (from Druim Arg meaning "ridge of the chests" or Druim Fhairig meaning "ridge of the feasting/hospitality")
- Drumman More (from an Drumainn meaning "the ridge")
- Killuney (from Cill Lughna meaning "Lughna's church")
- Legarhill or Mullaghcreevie (from Mullach Craoibhe meaning "hilltop of the branch")
- Lurgyvallen (from Lorg Uí Mhealláin meaning "Ó Mhealláin's track")
- Mullynure (from Mullach an Iubhair meaning "hilltop of the yew") - part of Grange parish
- Parkmore (from Páirc Mhór meaning "great field")
- Tullyelmer (from Tulaigh Giolla Mura meaning "Giolla Mura’s mound")
- Umgola (origin uncertain but probably includes the element -gabhla meaning "forks")
See also
- Book of ArmaghBook of ArmaghThe Book of Armagh or Codex Ardmachanus , also known as the Canon of Patrick and the Liber Armachanus, is a 9th-century Irish manuscript written mainly in Latin. It is held by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin...
- List of towns in Northern Ireland
- List of villages in Northern Ireland
- Market houses in Northern IrelandMarket Houses in Northern IrelandMarket houses are a notable feature of many Northern Ireland towns with varying styles of architecture, size and ornamentation making for a most interesting feature of the streetscape. Originally there were three, four or even five bays on the ground floor which were an open arcade. An upper...