5 Best Sights in Armagh, Northern Ireland

Displayed here in all its nickel-iron glory is Ireland's largest meteorite, an astonishing 4.5 billion years old and weighing 336 pounds. Elsewhere, find a spaceship, satellite models, a moon map on which you can walk, and the Digital Theater with Digistar 5—sit back and navigate the night sky in the company of experts. Weekend children's activities include building and launching rockets. Outside, stroll through the solar system and the Milky Way at the huge scale model of the universe.

Reduction on admission price if tickets are booked online.

Just outside Armagh is Ulster's Camelot—the region's ancient capital. Excavations date activity to 700 BC. The fort has strong associations with figures of Irish history. Legend has it that thousands of years ago this was the site of the palace of Queen Macha; subsequent tales call it the barracks of the legendary Ulster warrior Cuchulainn and his Red Branch Knights. Remains dating from 94 BC are particularly intriguing: a great conical structure, 120 feet in diameter, was formed from five concentric circles made of 275 wooden posts, with a 276th, about 12 yards high, situated in the center. In an effort to make the past come alive, in 2020 the center underwent a modern-day rebranding making it a more immersive Iron Age Celtic experience for visitors. On arrival you are welcomed into the clan with a cleansing ceremony and purification involving smoke and fire. Traditional herb bread and mead is offered as stories of Ulster's heroes and warriors are recounted; those who feel the need may connect with the land and energy through some calming Celtic Mindfulness, all served up with music and mythology. Hour-long guided tours are held covering the whole site, while young children can dig into the past in the Archeo Pit, dress up as a Celt, and touch history with "feely boxes." Ecology trails bring the environmental aspects of Navan to life. There's a bug hotel, listening posts, bird boxes, a viewing hide, and Armagh's only "bug and beastie" viewer.

If you are searching for your ancestors, Armagh Ancestry is based at Navan Fort where they provide a comprehensive genealogical service with a computerized database containing millions of records of all the major family history research sources in Ireland. To find out more it is best to contact the office in advance of your visit; call 028/3752–1802 or visit www.armaghrootsireland.ie.

In Armagh you can enjoy what they like to call a "Moth" morning, which has nothing to do with entomology but is an acronym for "Morning on the Hill." It incorporates a visit to No. 5 Vicars' Hill, now a museum with touch screens and displays of ancient coins and prints. You can see early Christian and pre-Christian artifacts and the 5th-century ogham stone (an early medieval alphabet in Irish inscription) known as the Drumconwell Stone donated to the library in 1879. There's a scale model of the old town, maps of Armagh, and records from the Beresford Collection. For the remainder of the morning your visit may include the nearby Robinson Library (43 Abbey Street) which contains 8,000 antiquarian books on theology, philosophy, voyages, and travel, as well as history, medicine, and law. Complete your morning by calling into St. Patrick's Church of Ireland (Anglican) Cathedral.

Near the city center, a squat battlement tower identifies the cathedral, in simple, early-19th-century low-Gothic style. On the site of much older churches, it contains relics of Armagh's long history. Brian Boru, the High King (King of All Ireland) is buried here. In 1014, he drove the Vikings out of Ireland but was killed after the battle was won. Some memorials and tombs here are by important 18th-century sculptors such as Roubiliac and Rysbrack. The cathedral's atmospheric crypt is also open to visitors by prior arrangement. Dating from the Middle Ages, this sanctuary was where law-abiding citizens safely stored their valuable goods. A few archbishops are buried here, too. And because of its position on a hilltop there are superb views of Armagh city and the surrounding countryside.

The pale limestone St. Patrick's, the seat of a Roman Catholic archdiocese, rises above a hill to dominate the north end of Armagh. The cathedral's rather gloomy interior is enlivened by a magnificent organ, the potential of which is fully realized at services. Construction of the twin-spire structure started in 1840 in the neo-Gothic style, but the Great Famine brought work to a halt until 1854, and it wasn't completed until 1873. An arcade of statues over the main doorway on the exterior is one of the cathedral's most interesting features. The altar is solid Irish granite, and the woodwork is Austrian oak.