Armagh

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For the U.S. city, see Armagh, Pennsylvania.

Template:Infobox Irish Place Armagh is a city in Northern Ireland, the county town of County Armagh. In Irish it is known as Ard Mhacha, or Macha's Height. 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. Armagh is the least populated city in Northern Ireland, and the second least populated in the island of Ireland, Kilkenny being the smallest. It had a population of 14,590 people in the 2001 census. Armagh was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994, City status was officially re-conferred in 1995.

The headquarters of the Armagh City and District Council are 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 and Social Services Board. It has a Georgian area of heritage importance.

Armagh is the seat of both an Anglican and a Roman Catholic archbishop, the Archbishop of Armagh, both of whom hold the position of Primate of All Ireland for their respective denomination. 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.

1 History
2 Administration
3 The Troubles
4 2001 Census
5 External links
6 References
7 See also

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History

Armagh has been the spiritual capital of Ireland for 1500 years. It is the historical center of the cultus of Saint Patrick, the center of a network of congregations. Brian Boru is buried in the cemetery of the Anglican, St. Patrick's Cathedral ,the center of the Church of Ireland. He is credited with driving the Norsemen out of Ireland in 1014.

It has also been an educational centre since the time of St. Patrick leading to it being known as the city of saints and scholars. St. Patrick decreed that only those educated in Armagh could spread the gospel. The educational tradition was carried on with the foundation of the Royal School, Armagh in 1608. Generously assisted by Archbishop Robinson in the 18th Century, the school along with the Armagh Observatory formed part of the Archbishops plan to have a university founded in the city. This ambition was finally fulfilled, albeit briefly, in the 1990s when Queens University Belfast opened an outreach centre in the former City Hospital building.

The Armagh rail disaster occurred on June 12, 1889 near Armagh.

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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 Provisional 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.

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The Troubles

1 January 1986: Two members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) (James McCandless (39) and Michael Williams (24), both Protestants), were killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army remote controlled bomb hidden in a litter bin and detonated when their foot patrol passed, Thomas Street, Armagh.

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2001 Census

Armagh city is classified as a Medium Town by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 10,000 and 18,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 14,590 people living in Armagh. Of these:

25.1% were aged under 16 years and 17.5% were aged 60 and over
48.1% of the population were male and 51.9% were female
68.3% were from a Catholic background and 30.2% were from a Protestant background
5.1% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

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