Known as the ‘Cathedral City’, the city of Armagh, part of former County Armagh in Northern Ireland, is a more or less quiet rural backwater. But it is a county town of some reputation and with an interesting historical fabric interwoven with more modern (and often less inspiring, it must be said) threads. What sets the city of Armagh apart is its role as the most important place for Irish Christianity. The general area was a very important center even in pagan times, and Saint Patrick himself gave Armagh the leading role in church politics, still vigorously persecuted by both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church, whose Rival cathedrals appear Watch each other cautiously from the opposite hills.
Visitors to Northern Ireland shouldn’t miss at least a quick look.
The city of Armagh in a nutshell
The city of Armagh has only been a city of its own since 1994 and with a population of around 15,000, it is the smallest city in all of Ireland. However, both the Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland have cathedrals and archbishops in Armagh, both being primates of Ireland. This has historical reasons and is not directly related to the city itself, which certainly radiates some civic pride and has pleasant areas, although it sometimes rubs shoulders uncomfortably with less attractive parts of the city. As Forrest Gump would say …
Armagh is a bit like a box of chocolates.
A brief history of the city of Armagh
The name of the city of Armagh is an anglicization of the Irish Ard Mhacha, which literally means “Height of Macha”: the nearby Emain Macha (or Fort Navan) was an important site in prehistory, where the goddess Macha gave birth to twins. The general area had settlements for the last 6,000 years or so, but only in the 5th century did Armagh come to lasting prominence. St. Patrick is said to have established his main church here and decided that Armagh-educated nuns and monks should spread Christianity throughout Ireland.
Like the ‘Annals of the Four Masters’ report, Patrick at the same time decided that Armagh should act as the ‘Ecclesiastical Capital of Ireland’, with the archbishop being the most important cleric on the island.
In the 9th century, the Vikings had other plans for Armagh, the various monasteries and churches were repeatedly stripped of their treasures. During these dark days the ‘Book of Armagh’ was created, the first extant book in Old Irish and is still preserved at Trinity College, Dublin. The importance of Armagh was also highlighted when the High King Brian Boru was buried here after his death in 1014. And the church’s treasures were slowly restored … only to be looted by the Anglo-Normans under John de Courcy in 1189.
The city grew during the Middle Ages and later became a center of learning with the founding of the Royal School in 1608 and the construction of the Armagh Observatory in 1790. The ecclesiastical side was not forgotten either, while the original cathedral went to the Church of Ireland After the Reformation, the Catholic Church built an imposing new cathedral in the late 19th century.
In the 20th century, Armagh was a microcosm of Ireland’s troubles, from the Ulster Division’s fateful involvement in the Battle of the Somme to the Irish War of Independence, during which Michael Collins spoke to up to 10,000 people in Armagh. The Troubles brought death and destruction to the city, but not many traces of this can be seen these days.
Places to Visit in Armagh City
Perhaps the best introduction to Armagh is a walk through the mall, an open central area with cricket grounds and some Georgian buildings. After this… choose and mix:
- The pride of the place (literally, as they are in the hills and visible from afar) in the city of Armagh must go to the two cathedrals, both dedicated to Saint Patrick . The cathedral of the Church of Ireland, built in brownstone and right in the center of the city, dates from around 445. However, it has been extensively rebuilt, without losing its essentially medieval character. The much younger Catholic cathedral was built as a declaration of supremacy, one feels, with two massive 64-meter high towers. The styles of architecture and decoration in the two cathedrals are so different that visitors should try to see both.
- The Armagh Observatory (1790) and the Armagh Planetarium (1968) are located a short distance from the city center and should be visited by anyone with an interest in astronomy and space.
- The former palace of the Archbishop of Armagh , now used as council offices, the adjoining archbishop’s private chapel is open to the public, as are the beautiful gardens that surround them. The ruins of a medieval abbey are near the entrance to the estate.
- The Public Library on Abbey Street was founded in 1771 by Archbishop Richard Robinson and has some books in English from the 17th and 18th centuries, of which Jonathan Swift’s annotated copy of the first edition of “Gulliver’s Travels” is a real treasure.
- Also, try taking a look at the old Market House (1815) now used as a library, and the old Armagh Gaol, which sports a mix of Georgian and Victorian styles.
The miscellany city of Armagh
Although Armagh has been disconnected from all rail connections since 1957, it is still remembered in Irish rail history, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons – the Armagh rail disaster (June 12, 1889 on the Newry line) killed 78 people .
