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'. Armagh was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994, and city status was officially re-conferred in 1995. 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.
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. It has a Georgian area of heritage importance.

History

• Emain Macha or Navan Fort, at the edge of the city, has a genuine claim to be the oldest settlement in Ireland, dating back to Queen Macha in 600 BC. The Celtic Queen gave her name to the city - Ard Macha, meaning The Height of Macha, reflecting the fact that the city developed on the hill overlooking Navan Fort.

• The claim that Armagh is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland dates back to the early fifth century when Saint Patrick established his principal Church in Ireland here. It is the historical center of the cultus of Saint Patrick, the centre of a network of congregations. Brian Boru is buried in the cemetery of the Anglican, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the principal church 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 Saint Patrick, leading to it being known as the city of saints and scholars. Saint 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 Queen's University of Belfast opened an outreach centre in the former city Hospital building.