Armagh is the county town of County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It was originally called Ard Macha after the Celtic goddess Macha. It is a small city of about 15,000 inhabitants. When Christianity came to Ireland in the fifth century A.D., St. Patrick established his principal church there. Later, there was a monastery from which came The Book of Armagh. Along with the Book of Kells and other precious manuscripts, it is housed at Trinity College in Dublin. Written in Old Irish, It is one of the oldest books extant.
There are two cathedrals in Armagh. Brian Boru, who conquered all of Ireland in the tenth century A. D. and became its high king is said to be buried at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral that was built in the fifth century. It belongs to the Church of Ireland (Episcopal). The second cathedral in Armagh, also St. Patrick’s, is a post-Reformation structure with twin spires that is Roman Catholic and the tallest structure in the county.
Laetitia took her group to both cathedrals and to the Georgian Armagh Observatory which was established in 1790. They also visited the Palace Stables Heritage Center, housed in reconstructed buildings that were once part of the Archbishop’s estate. As they were touring the Heritage center, an overheard conversation between two teenage girls gave Laetitia the limerick of the day.
A thin wisp of a girl from Armagh
Who’d grown tired of stuffing her bra
Breathed a sigh of relief,
Though with some disbelief,
When Brent viewed her flat bosom with awe.