County Armagh
Ard Mhacha
- IrishArd Mhacha
- ProvinceUlster
- County townArmagh, by tradition
- Local governmentNo county council since 1973. The county lies in two districts: Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon; Newry, Mourne and Down
- Area1,327 km²
- Population194,394 (2021)
- Highest pointSlieve Gullion, 573 m
The Sunday school excursion
On the twelfth of June 1889 a Sunday school excursion left Armagh for Warrenpoint. Fifteen carriages, heavily laden, a good many of the passengers children.
The engine could not get them up the bank out of the city. Near the top the train was divided, so it could be taken on in two parts. The rear ten carriages were held by a hand brake and stones under the wheels. They ran back down the hill and met the next train coming up.
About eighty people died. The brake on the train was the non automatic vacuum kind, so once it was divided the rear part had no power brake at all. Within twelve weeks Parliament passed the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, and the Board of Trade could order continuous brakes and block working on passenger lines.
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Armagh Observatory
Richard Robinson, the Church of Ireland archbishop, wanted a university for Armagh. He never got one. He got an observatory instead, to a design by Francis Johnston, and it was founded in 1790.
An act of the Irish Parliament in 1791 settled it as a public observatory and museum in the city of Armagh for ever. Its inscription reads The Heavens declare the Glory of God.
It still does research. It is the oldest scientific institution in Northern Ireland.
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Richard Robinson
An Englishman who came over as a viceroy's chaplain and rose by patronage. He was archbishop of Armagh from 1765 and a peer, Baron Rokeby, from 1777.
He rebuilt the city. A palace, a public library, a school, a county jail, an infirmary, the observatory, and an obelisk on the hill above his demesne. He was called the builder of Armagh.
His dislike of Catholics was well known. He died at Clifton, near Bristol, in October 1794 and was buried in Armagh cathedral.
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