Armagh
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- For the U.S. city, see Armagh, Pennsylvania.
Armagh is a city in Northern Ireland, the capital of County Armagh. In Irish it is known as Ard Mhacha, or Macha's Height. City status was officially conferred in 1995. The city is home to Armagh Observatory, founded in 1790 and to the Armagh Planetarium established in 1968 to complement the research work of the Armagh Observatory.
The headquarters of the Armagh City and District Council is in Armagh. The city has a long reputation as an administrative centre and currently located in the City is the headquarters of the Southern Education and Library Board and the Southern Health Board. It has a Georgian area of heritage importance.
Armagh is the seat of both Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic Archbishops, both referred to as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. 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.
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History
Armagh has been the spiritual capital of Ireland for 1500 years. Brian Boru is buried in the cemetery of the Protestant St. Patrick's Cathedral. He is credited with driving the Norsemen out of Ireland in 1014.
The Armagh rail disaster occurred on June 12, 1889 near Armagh.
Administration
The city is run by Armagh City and District Council, 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 MP is Conor Murphy of Sinn Fein, he is a former IRA prisoner and a member of the Sinn Fein negotiations team. He won the seat in the 2005 General Election after the retirement long-serving SDLP MP Seamus Mallon.
See also
External links
- Architecture of Armagh (http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/armagh/)
- Armagh Observatory (http://www.arm.ac.uk/)
- Armagh Planetarium (http://www.armaghplanet.com/)
| Cities in Ireland |
| Republic of Ireland: Dublin | Cork | Limerick | Galway | Waterford | Kilkenny |
| Northern Ireland: Belfast | Derry | Armagh | Newry | Lisburn |