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Date Armagh In this paper I am going to cover the history of the place in the beautiful Northern Ireland – Armagh. It would be logical to start with the brief history flashback of the Northern Ireland itself before telling more about the Armagh. Northern Ireland consists of twenty six different districts or areas. Northern Ireland is derived from the boroughs such as Belfast, Londonderry, the counties are: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone. They all create the Ulster, but the territory doesn’t include the entire province. If we compare it to one of the states, the size of the Northern Ireland is a little bit larger than the state of Connecticut. Ulster used to be the part of the Catholic Ireland up until Elizabeth I, suppressed three Irish rebellions; she took the lands and settled the Scots there. Another rebellion, even though he was destroyed by the Oliver Cromwell, has created a settlement of Anglican Englishmen in the province. Northern Ireland was connected to South for a very long time. The topic of my essay is more concrete, it is “Armagh”, and as it was mentioned before, Armagh is a county. The word “Armagh” itself in irish “ard mhacha” and it means the “Macha’s height”. Armagh is adjoined to the shore of Lough Neagh. Lough Neagh is the biggerst and most beautiful lake in whole Ireland. As well as US states have nicknames, Armagh has a nickname too. Armagh is called the “Orchard County” due the very fertile soil, so lands are occupied for the apple-growing. A lot of seventeenth century settlers came here from Worcestershire, they laid out orchads. Apples usually blossom in late May, so this time is called the Apple Blossom Sunday, when tress are full of pink and white flowers. Armagh is often called a spiritual capital of Ireland, for more that thousand and a half years. It is a home for both Protestant and Catholic. The city of Armagh is the most respected of all Irish cities. It has been a city proper only in 1994 and has population more than fifteen thousand people. The city is the smallest city in whole Ireland. In this county the history of ardent Republicanism is present. It won’t surprise anyone that not that long ago, this area was absolutely not popular destination for tourists, who were interested in Ireland and its history. Nevertheless, nobody can deny the beauty of the landscapes of Arnagh, the mysterious architecture pieces can be found here, in towns and some buildings. Armagh City used to be the capital city of the Ulster province. People can find here Anglican, as well as Catholic cathedrals, usually they stand on the hills. The famous Catholic St Patrick’s Cathedral was built in Gothic Style. The building was built during the so called Famine, that takes place in the nineteenth century. The cathedral was finished and the work was done up in 1873, with the help of numerous fundraising, donations. St Patrick himself called the Armagh as “his sweet hill”. Brian Boru is buried somewhere in St Patricks’ Cathedral graveyard, as it is believed. After he conquered the island in 990s, he was the King of whole Ireland in 1002, but died twelve years later in 1014.Another cathedral, the Anglican St Patrick’s Cathedral is much older than Catholic one, it had been restored in 1765. In the county of Armagh, the leatherbound book is free to discover in local public library. County’s Museum used to be and still is a warm home to the numerous artifacts. To the west from Armagh, is Navan Hill fort and it used to be home to the Ulster kings, who ruled here for a millennium. To the south from Armagh, there is a place where you can hear a lot of myths and legends that are going to be associated with another fort. All this states that Armagh is an old place in Northern Ireland with rich history and vivid culture. The most popular game – the road bowls, is played here, in Arnagh. It is played in the leafy lanes. The concept of the game is pretty simple. Iron bowls that weight around twenty eight ounces, they are hurled by the gamers along couple miles in the fewest throws, as few as possible. It is very exciting for the spectators. This kind games train Irish men of this county for winning the Irish championships. The game might seem very dangerous, but this is the unique detail of the culture that has been developed for years. It creates inevitable part of the history of Armagh. Navan Fort, that has been mentioned before, was the home for Ulster kings and queens from 700 BCE. It is occupying a place of the Age of Heroes, mostly because of tales about Cuchulain. King Conor was fighting against Queen Maeve, the Cuchulain, the ruler of Connaught, helped King Conor. This story takes place in the Ulster Cycle, which was found by the archaeologists who uncovered Navan Fort. This unique Cycle is a proof of the existence of the Celtic culture, different magical rituals, beliefs that were formed in pre-Christian time in Ireland. Before that, in 839, the Armagh was conquered by Vikings. Their goal was to take the valuebale metals such as silver, that could be found in churches, cathedrals, and some monasteries during that period of time. A lot of these historical facts and other things about Old Irish had been written in the Book of Armagh. In nineth century this manuscript had took it beginning. Now, the Book of Armagh can be found in the city of Dublin, in the library of the Trinity College. In the modern era, Armagh was the center of education since St Patrick’s time, but to be more specific, Armagh was called “the city of saints and scholars”. The Royal School was found in 1608 and the Armagh Observatory in 1790. Later, in 1968 there was established Armagh Planetarium.It also was planned to build a university in the city, this was a will of Archbishop. His plan was fulfilled in 1990, when in the former hospital building there was opened Queen’s University of Belfast. Armagh Museum is the oldest county museum in Ireland. It was built in 1833, and at first was simply a school house. But as a museum it has started to function in 1937. To sum up my essay paper it is important to say that Armagh has played an important role in the Northern Ireland history process. It was a dear place for the famous St Patrick, who have founded a Cathedral there. It is an important place full of religion, architecture, and culture.

Works Cited County Armagh. Family Search. Family Search.com. Web 03/04/14 Northern Ireland. Geography&Government. Info.Infoplease.com Web 03/04/14 County Armagh. Northern Ireland Tourist Board.Geographia.com Web 03/04/14