FROM towering church spires, hilly streets, historic buildings and foodie gems, to a lineage that stretches back to St Patrick in the fifth century AD, Armagh stands out as one of the most enjoyable small cities on the island of Ireland.
Armagh City and borough is currently in the running to become UK City of Culture 2025 after making it through to the final eight of potential contenders, so now is the perfect time to come and explore all that Armagh has to offer. Here we lift the lid on some of Armagh’s top attractions and experiences for 2022.
Celebrate St Patrick’s legacy
Did you know Armagh is the home of St Patrick? While his journey can be traced all around the island of Ireland, it is Armagh that is at the heart of celebrating the life of St Patrick—where the patron saint founded his first large stone church. Uniquely, the city today has two iconic cathedrals named in honour of St Patrick and both are open to visitors, explore inside, visit the crypt and discover more about Armagh’s role and influence. Armagh is also home to the St Patrick Festival, where you can enjoy music, dance and theatre for St Patrick’s Day on March 17.
Forest bathing
Discover a new sense of mindfulness with a forest bathing experience in the grounds of the beautiful Killeavy Castle Estate. Disconnect with life in the fast lane with an Xhale experience with Ann Ward, an accredited meditation teacher, certified shinrin-yoku guide and forest therapy practitioner.
Awaken your senses in Slieve Gullion Forest park, a perfect woodland haven located on the mythical mountain of Slieve Gullion. Ann will support your forest immersion through guided mindfulness meditation and offer you creative invitations to deepen your spiritual connection with nature.
Taste the Orchard County
County Armagh is known as the ‘Orchard County’ because of its famous apple orchards. Armagh Cider Company is a very popular tourist attraction where apples have been grown for five generations. The tour offers a real insight into the skills needed to create a great orchard, showing everything ‘from blossom to bottle’ before tasting the award-winning ciders and juices.
Long Meadow Cider owned by the McKeever family, are third generation apple growers who have won many prestigious awards for their 100 per cent natural and gluten free products. Walking through the orchards, visitors will learn about the different apple growing systems and can pick apples at harvest time (September-October).
The Armagh Food and Cider Festival takes place in September, brimming with fine foods,
foraged lunches, cider tasting, tours and talks and fiction amongst the apple-laden orchards.
Navan Centre and Fort
A place where myth and reality meet, Navan Centre and Fort is one of Ireland’s most famous and important archaeological sites. Experience life over 2000 years ago, as you walk in the footsteps of warriors to the ancient site of the great temple. Immerse yourself in Iron Age life as you meet the resident Celtic clan and view their period dwelling.
Festival fun
Armagh is host to many festivals including a brand new two-weekend cultural celebration this March and April. Bringing together the region’s thriving arts and cultural scene to a variety of iconic spaces, venues and its famous apple orchards, the first-of-its-kind landmark Fusion Festival combines a myriad of unique collaborations, big name musical acts, art, craft, theatre, dance, poetry and more.
The Armagh Planetarium and Observatory
This place holds meteorological records which date back to December 1794 and they have continued uninterrupted ever since. Manual measurements are still taken at 9am GMT every single day! In recognition of their achievements, they were awarded a Centennial Observing Station status by the World Meteorological Organisation in 2018. You can soar through space at Armagh’s spectacular planetarium, the longest serving in the UK or Ireland (1968)
and one of the first dome planetariums built anywhere.
