Armagh County Museum, Robinson Library and the Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Library & Archive have safely reopened for pre-booked visits.
Before closing their doors in line with restrictions last December, the popular tourist destinations had become a major local, national and international hub of Armagh’s rich history and heritage, with visitors travelling from near and far to immerse themselves in stories from the past.
All three museums will reopen with full health and safety measures in place.
Armagh County Museum, the oldest county museum in Ireland, is set in Armagh’s beautiful Georgian tree-lined Mall and its unique architecture makes it one of the most distinctive buildings in the city. Opened in 1937 as Ireland’s first County Museum, its collections capture centuries of stories relating to the people who lived, worked and had connections with this famous city and historic county.
On display are military uniforms, wedding dresses, ceramics, natural history specimens and railway memorabilia. An impressive art collection includes works by many well-known Irish artists such as AE Russell, John Luke and JB Vallely.
Armagh Robinson Library, formerly Armagh Public Library, is the oldest library in Northern Ireland, founded in 1771 by Archbishop Richard Robinson as part of his plans to establish a university.
The nucleus of the collection is Archbishop Robinson’s own library, containing 17th and 18th-century books on many subjects. There are many rare and valuable books such as incunabula, first editions and illuminated manuscripts. It also holds ancient Irish artefacts such as stone axes, flint arrowheads and bronze implements, as well as resources to aid family history research.
The book collection at the Robinson Library is kept alive with current acquisitions on the following subjects: Armagh City and County local history, church history, St Patrick and Johnathan Swift.
A guided tour will encourage and show visitors how to locate and handle old manuscripts, books and maps with care. There will be the opportunity to view the 1835 Ordnance Survey Maps to discover how townlands, villages or towns looked all those years ago.
Established in 1999, the Cardinal Tomas O Fiaich Memorial Library is a unique, free and independent reference library and is highly regarded as a unique cultural and historical resource. Located on Moy Road in the heart of the city, it holds nationally and internationally important collections on Irish and church history, the Irish language and Irish Sport, as well as Irish overseas.
For more information, jump into www.visitarmagh.com