Armagh,
Northern Ireland,
United Kingdom
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Caught an early bus to Armagh, the Ecclesiastical Center of Northern Ireland, and former home of Saint Patrick himself. There are two St. Patrick's Cathedrals in Armagh. The oldest is built on the site where St. Patrick built a stone church in the 5th century. It's now a thirteenth century structure that houses the bones of Brian Boru, the infamous high king of Ireland from the 11th century. The Roman Catholic Cathedral is much larger - it was started in 1840, but construction was suspended because they diverted all the building funds to famine relief. The rose window has nice celtic knotwork on the exterior, and the floor is a mosaic of celtic knots. The public library in Armagh is a hidden treasure - one large room filled with old books, many from the 15th and 16th centuries. I saw Swift's copy of the first edition of Gulliver's Travels, opened to a page where he made corrections for the second printing. A lot of local history laying about in curiosity cabinets and hanging on the wall too. Armagh is nice - very small - small enough that often as not people passing on the sidewalks greet each other by name - and the people are very friendly, their accent sweet to the ear. The contrast with Belfast is dramatic - in Armagh, women are still wearing skirts down to their ankles and men wear slacks and proper shoes. In Belfast, miniskirts and blue jeans are everywhere. I love the way that Belfast has opened up, but I admit to missing the provincial aspects of Irish culture that I remember from previous visits.
