Armagh, city, S Northern Ireland.
Textiles, chemicals, and processed foods are produced in the city. Armagh (originally Ard
Macha) has been the ecclesiastical capital of all Ireland since the 5th cent., when St.
Patrick founded his church there. It is the seat of both Roman Catholic and Protestant
archbishops. Besides its two cathedrals, the town contains an observatory and St. Patrick
Diocesan College. Armagh suffered several Danish raids; it was destroyed by Shane O'Neill in
1566 and was burned in 1642. Nearby is Navan Fort, a large elliptical mound, on the site of
Emania (or Emain Macha), the legendary pre-Christian capital of Ulster.
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