County Armagh (Irish: Contae Ard Mhacha) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders the Northern Irish counties of Tyrone to the west and Down to the east. The county borders Louth and Monaghan to the south and southwest, which are in the Republic of Ireland. It is named after its county town, Armagh, which derives from the Irish Ard Mhacha, meaning "Macha's height". Macha was a sovereignty goddess in Irish mythology and is said to have been buried on a wooded hill around which the town of Armagh grew. County Armagh is colloquially known as the "Orchard County" because of its many apple orchards. The county covers an area of 1,327 km2 (512 mi2), making it the smallest of Northern Ireland's six counties by size and the sixth-smallest county on the island of Ireland. With a population of 194,394 as of the 2021 census, it is the fourth-most populous county in both Northern Ireland and Ulster. It is the 10th most populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties, as well as the fifth-most densely populated. In addition to the city of Armagh and the western portion of the city of Newry, notable towns in the county include Lurgan, Portadown and Craigavon.
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#1 Killeavy Castle is a Grade A listed 19th-century castle in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was built for the Foxall family between 1810 and 1820 and was later designed to resemble Gosford Castle in Markethill, also in County Armagh. Plans for castle's restoration were announced in 2013 with a £1 million grant from Invest Northern Ireland.
#2 Ballykeel Dolmen is a Neolithic tripod portal tomb and a State Care Historic Monument at the foot of the western flank of Slieve Gullion in Northern Ireland. It is located above a tributary of the Forkhill river, in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, at grid ref: H9950 2132. The dolmen sits at the southern end of a large cairn, of approximately 30x10 metres, the north end of which also contains a cist. Its three metre long capstone, with a notable notch similar to that of Legananny Dolmen, had previously fallen, but was re-set during excavations in 1963. The granite capstone is balanced on the tips of the three portal stones. Excavations of the chamber revealed different types of pottery, including three highly decorated "Ballyalton" bowls, and the cist contained several hundred sherds of Neolithic pottery, a javelin head, and three flint flakes. High levels of phosphates found in the chambers floor is an indication of ancient burials. Nearby is Ballymacdermott Court Tomb.
#3 Navan Fort (Old Irish: Emain Macha [ˈeβ̃ənʲ ˈβ̃axa]; Modern Irish: Eamhain Mhacha [ˌəunʲ ˈwaxə]) is an ancient ceremonial monument near Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to tradition it was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the capital of the Ulaidh. It is a large circular hilltop enclosure—marked by a bank and ditch—inside which is a circular mound and the remains of a ring barrow. Archeological investigations show that there were once buildings on the site, including a huge roundhouse-like structure that has been likened to a temple. In a ritual act, this timber structure was filled with stones, deliberately burnt down and then covered with earth to create the mound which stands today. It is believed that Navan was a pagan ceremonial site and was regarded as a sacred space. It features prominently in Irish mythology, especially in the tales of the Ulster Cycle. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, "the [Eamhain Mhacha] of myth and legend is a far grander and mysterious place than archeological excavation supports". Navan Fort is the heart of the larger 'Navan complex', which also includes the ancient sites of Haughey's Fort (an earlier hilltop enclosure), the King's Stables (a manmade ritual pool) and Loughnashade (a natural lake that has yielded votive offerings). The name Eamhain Mhacha has been interpreted as "Macha's twins" or "Macha's brooch", referring to a local goddess. 'Navan' is an anglicisation of the Irish An Eamhain.
The King's Stables is an archaeological site in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The earthwork known as the King's Stables is a Scheduled Historic Monument in the townland of Tray, in Armagh City and District Council area, at grid ref: H8388 4546.
#5 Brownlow House, also known as Brownlow Castle and Lurgan Castle, is a Grade A listed 19th century house located in Lurgan, Northern Ireland. It was built for Irish politician Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan in 1833 by Scottish architect William Henry Playfair and was used as a military headquarters in both world wars.
Moyry Castle (from the Irish Maġ Rí or "plain of the king") is a small 17th century castle in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was built during the latter stages of the Nine Years' War in June 1601 by Lord Mountjoy to help secure Moyry Pass and the Gap of the North. It is set in the corner of a small bawn and is a rectangular tower three storeys high. Moyry Castle is a State Care Historic Monument sited in the townland of Carrickbroad, in Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, at grid ref: J0576 1466. The castle is 7.5 miles (12 km) south of Newry town centre, and 5 miles (8 km) north of Dundalk town centre. Moyry Castle, is built on solid rock, It is almost square, 8 metres (26 ft) each way and is three stories high. There are musketry loopholes on each wall except the North facing wall. This wall held the fireplaces which protrude on the outside.
#7 HM Prison Armagh, also known as Armagh Gaol, is a former prison in Armagh, Northern Ireland. The construction of the prison began in 1780 to a design of Thomas Cooley and it was extended in the style of Pentonville Prison in the 1840 and 1850s. For most of its working life Armagh Gaol was the primary women's prison in Ulster. Although the prison is often described as Armagh Women's Gaol, at various points in its history, various wings in the prison were used to hold male prisoners. During the period of the internment, 33 republican women were interned in the prison from 1973 to 1975. On 19 April 1979, Agnes Wallace (40), a prison officer, was shot dead and three colleagues were injured in an Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) gun and grenade attack outside the prison. The prison was the scene of a protest by female Irish republican prisoners demanding the reinstatement of political status, although the numbers involved were much smaller than in the Maze (also known as Long Kesh) men's prison. As all women prisoners in Northern Ireland already had the right to wear their own clothes, they did not stage any sort of blanket protest, but abstained from doing prison work. In 1979, several prisoners joined the no wash protest held by IRA prisoners in the Maze. Their tactics included the smearing of menstrual blood on the cell walls. Three women in Armagh took part in the 1980 hunger strike: Mairéad Nugent, Mary Doyle and Mairéad Farrell, who would later be killed by the Special Air Service (SAS) in Gibraltar in 1988. No Armagh prisoners took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike. The prison closed in 1986. In 2009 it was announced that the prison was to become a hotel. Armagh Prison was the subject of one of the so-called black spider memos written by Charles, Prince of Wales to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 2004.
#8 The Armagh County Museum is a museum in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Located on the edge of the tree-lined Mall in the centre of Armagh city, the museum is the oldest County Museum in Ireland and was officially opened in 1937.
#9 The Ballymacdermot Court Tomb is a megalithic portal tomb 600 feet up the southern slope of Ballymacdermot Mountain in County Armagh, two miles outside Newry. Ballymacdermott is situated with views of the Mourne Mountains to the east and Slieve Gullion to the west. The site is a scheduled monument in State care. The site dates from between 4000 and 2500 BCE and is located close to other neolithic monuments such as Ballykeel Dolmen and Clontigora Cairn.
#10 The Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum is a military museum based in Sovereign's House at Armagh, Northern Ireland. The museum is a Grade B listed building.
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Killeavy Castle is a Grade A listed 19th-century castle in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was built for the Foxall family between 1810 and 1820 and was later designed to resemble Gosford Castle in Markethill, also in County Armagh. Plans for castle's restoration were announced in 2013 with a £1 million grant from Invest Northern Ireland.
Ballykeel Dolmen is a Neolithic tripod portal tomb and a State Care Historic Monument at the foot of the western flank of Slieve Gullion in Northern Ireland. It is located above a tributary of the Forkhill river, in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, at grid ref: H9950 2132. The dolmen sits at the southern end of a large cairn, of approximately 30x10 metres, the north end of which also contains a cist. Its three metre long capstone, with a notable notch similar to that of Legananny Dolmen, had previously fallen, but was re-set during excavations in 1963. The granite capstone is balanced on the tips of the three portal stones. Excavations of the chamber revealed different types of pottery, including three highly decorated "Ballyalton" bowls, and the cist contained several hundred sherds of Neolithic pottery, a javelin head, and three flint flakes. High levels of phosphates found in the chambers floor is an indication of ancient burials. Nearby is Ballymacdermott Court Tomb.
Navan Fort (Old Irish: Emain Macha [ˈeβ̃ənʲ ˈβ̃axa]; Modern Irish: Eamhain Mhacha [ˌəunʲ ˈwaxə]) is an ancient ceremonial monument near Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to tradition it was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the capital of the Ulaidh. It is a large circular hilltop enclosure—marked by a bank and ditch—inside which is a circular mound and the remains of a ring barrow. Archeological investigations show that there were once buildings on the site, including a huge roundhouse-like structure that has been likened to a temple. In a ritual act, this timber structure was filled with stones, deliberately burnt down and then covered with earth to create the mound which stands today. It is believed that Navan was a pagan ceremonial site and was regarded as a sacred space. It features prominently in Irish mythology, especially in the tales of the Ulster Cycle. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, "the [Eamhain Mhacha] of myth and legend is a far grander and mysterious place than archeological excavation supports". Navan Fort is the heart of the larger 'Navan complex', which also includes the ancient sites of Haughey's Fort (an earlier hilltop enclosure), the King's Stables (a manmade ritual pool) and Loughnashade (a natural lake that has yielded votive offerings). The name Eamhain Mhacha has been interpreted as "Macha's twins" or "Macha's brooch", referring to a local goddess. 'Navan' is an anglicisation of the Irish An Eamhain.
The King's Stables is an archaeological site in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The earthwork known as the King's Stables is a Scheduled Historic Monument in the townland of Tray, in Armagh City and District Council area, at grid ref: H8388 4546.
Brownlow House, also known as Brownlow Castle and Lurgan Castle, is a Grade A listed 19th century house located in Lurgan, Northern Ireland. It was built for Irish politician Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan in 1833 by Scottish architect William Henry Playfair and was used as a military headquarters in both world wars.
Moyry Castle (from the Irish Maġ Rí or "plain of the king") is a small 17th century castle in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was built during the latter stages of the Nine Years' War in June 1601 by Lord Mountjoy to help secure Moyry Pass and the Gap of the North. It is set in the corner of a small bawn and is a rectangular tower three storeys high. Moyry Castle is a State Care Historic Monument sited in the townland of Carrickbroad, in Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, at grid ref: J0576 1466. The castle is 7.5 miles (12 km) south of Newry town centre, and 5 miles (8 km) north of Dundalk town centre. Moyry Castle, is built on solid rock, It is almost square, 8 metres (26 ft) each way and is three stories high. There are musketry loopholes on each wall except the North facing wall. This wall held the fireplaces which protrude on the outside.
HM Prison Armagh, also known as Armagh Gaol, is a former prison in Armagh, Northern Ireland. The construction of the prison began in 1780 to a design of Thomas Cooley and it was extended in the style of Pentonville Prison in the 1840 and 1850s. For most of its working life Armagh Gaol was the primary women's prison in Ulster. Although the prison is often described as Armagh Women's Gaol, at various points in its history, various wings in the prison were used to hold male prisoners. During the period of the internment, 33 republican women were interned in the prison from 1973 to 1975. On 19 April 1979, Agnes Wallace (40), a prison officer, was shot dead and three colleagues were injured in an Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) gun and grenade attack outside the prison. The prison was the scene of a protest by female Irish republican prisoners demanding the reinstatement of political status, although the numbers involved were much smaller than in the Maze (also known as Long Kesh) men's prison. As all women prisoners in Northern Ireland already had the right to wear their own clothes, they did not stage any sort of blanket protest, but abstained from doing prison work. In 1979, several prisoners joined the no wash protest held by IRA prisoners in the Maze. Their tactics included the smearing of menstrual blood on the cell walls. Three women in Armagh took part in the 1980 hunger strike: Mairéad Nugent, Mary Doyle and Mairéad Farrell, who would later be killed by the Special Air Service (SAS) in Gibraltar in 1988. No Armagh prisoners took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike. The prison closed in 1986. In 2009 it was announced that the prison was to become a hotel. Armagh Prison was the subject of one of the so-called black spider memos written by Charles, Prince of Wales to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 2004.
The Armagh County Museum is a museum in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Located on the edge of the tree-lined Mall in the centre of Armagh city, the museum is the oldest County Museum in Ireland and was officially opened in 1937.
The Ballymacdermot Court Tomb is a megalithic portal tomb 600 feet up the southern slope of Ballymacdermot Mountain in County Armagh, two miles outside Newry. Ballymacdermott is situated with views of the Mourne Mountains to the east and Slieve Gullion to the west. The site is a scheduled monument in State care. The site dates from between 4000 and 2500 BCE and is located close to other neolithic monuments such as Ballykeel Dolmen and Clontigora Cairn.
The Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum is a military museum based in Sovereign's House at Armagh, Northern Ireland. The museum is a Grade B listed building.
Barn Museum is an attraction museum located in County Armagh. Visitors can explore the museum exhibits housed at this location.
Keady Monument is a historic monument situated in County Armagh. It is a designated point of historical interest in the county.
Milford House Museum is an attraction and museum situated in County Armagh. It serves as a cultural and historical exhibition space.
Bernish Viewpoint is a viewpoint located in County Armagh. It offers scenic views of the surrounding area.
Camlough Mountain is a natural peak located in County Armagh. It serves as a prominent mountain elevation for visitors in the area.
Cannon Hill is a viewpoint located in County Armagh. Visitors can head to this location to take in views in the county.