Page 280 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Ireland

278  IRELAND REGION B Y REGION

was erected over a giant cairn.
The whole thing was then
burned and the remains
covered with soil. Archaeological
evidence indi cates that this was
not an act of war, but a solemn
ritual performed by the inhabit­
ants of Emain Macha themselves.
Below the fort, the grass­
roofed Navan Centre interprets
the site. It is open to groups
outside of the main summer
season. One unexpected exhibit
is the skull of a Barbary ape,
Armagh, dominated by St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral found in the remains of a Bronze
Age house. The animal must
d Armagh E Armagh County Museum come from Spain or North Africa,
The Mall East. Tel 028 3752 3070.
Road map D2. Co Armagh. * 15,000. Open Mon–Sat. Closed some public evidence that by 500 BC Emain
@ n 40 English St (028 3752 1800). hols. 8 by arrangement. Macha was already a place with
( Tue & Fri. ∑ armagh.co.uk ∑ nmni.com/acm far­flung trading links.
One of Ireland’s oldest cities, E Craftswirl E Navan Centre
Armagh dates back to the age 40 Upper English St. Tel 028 3752 On A28 4 km (2.5 miles) W of Armagh.
of St Patrick (see p285) and 1800. Open daily. ∑ armagh.co.uk/ Tel 028 3752 9644. Open daily. & 7
the advent of Christianity. The place/craftswirl
narrow streets in the city centre Y Observatory Grounds
follow the ditches that once College Hill. Tel 028 3752 3689. Open f Lough Neagh
ringed the church, founded by by appt only. Grounds: open Mon–Fri. Road map D2. Co Armagh, Co Tyrone,
the saint in 455. Two cathe drals, Planetarium: Tel 028 3752 3689. Open Co Londonderry, Co Antrim.
both called St Patrick’s, sit on varies; check website. & for shows.
opposing hills. The huge Roman - 7 ∑ armaghplanet.com Legend has it that the giant
Catholic one is a twin­spired Finn MacCool (see pp30–31)
Neo­Gothic building with Environs created Lough Neagh by picking
seemingly every inch To the west of up a piece of turf and hurling it
of wall covered Armagh stands into the Irish Sea, thus forming
in mosaic. The Navan Fort, a the Isle of Man in the process.
older Anglican large earthwork on At 400 sq km (153 sq miles), the
Cathedral dates the summit of a hill. In lake is the largest in Britain.
back to med ieval legend, Navan was Emain Bordered by sedgy marsh­
times. It boasts the Macha, ceremonial and land, it has few roads along its
bones of Brian Skull of Barbary ape from spiri tual capital of an ­ shore. The best rec reational
Ború, the King of Navan Fort cient Ulster, associated areas lie in the south: Oxford
Ireland who defeated the with tales of the warrior Island, actually a peninsula, has
Vikings in 1014 (see pp38–9), and Cúchulainn (see p30). The site walking trails, bird lookouts and
an 11th­century High Cross. may have been in use as much the informative Lough Neagh
Armagh’s gorgeous oval, tree­ as 4,000 years ago, but seems to Discovery Centre. In the south­
lined Mall, where cricket is have been most active around west corner, a narrow­gauge
played in summer, is surround­ 100 BC when a huge timber railway runs through the bogs
ed by dignified Georgian building, 40 m (130 ft) across, of Peatlands Park. Salmon and
buildings. One of these houses
the small Armagh County
Museum, which has a good
exhibition on local history. Off
the Mall, St Patrick’s Trian is a
heritage centre telling the story
of the city. It also has a “Land
of Lilliput” fantasy centre for
children, based on Gulliver’s
Travels by Jonathan Swift (see
p86). The Armagh Planetarium
is on College Hill in the
Observatory Grounds, from
where there are splendid views
over the city. Navan Fort, the site of Emain Macha, legendary capital of Ulster
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp302–3 and pp323–5

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm