Ireland Guide
Down and Armagh
St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral
Address: Dawson Street
Website: www.stpatricks-cathedral.org
Opening time: Daily: April– Oct 10am–5pm; Nov– March 10am–4pm; free tours June– Aug Mon– Sat 11.30am & 2.30pm
Price: Free
St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral lays claim to the summit of the principal hillock, Drum Saileach, where St Patrick founded his first church in 445 AD. It commands a distinctive Armagh view across to the other hills and down over the clutter of gable walls and pitched roofing on its own slopes. A series of churches occupied the site after 445 and, although the core of the present one is medieval, a nineteenth-century restoration has coated the thirteenth-century outer walls in a sandstone plaster of which Thackeray remarked, "It is as neat and trim as a lady's dressing room." Many of the ancient decorations were removed, leaving the spartan interior you see today. Just as you enter from the highly distinctive timber porch, you'll see a few remnants of an eleventh-century Celtic cross and a startling statue of Thomas Molyneux. Inside, high up, you should be able to sight the medieval carved heads of men, women and monsters. One other unusual feature is the tilt of the chancel, a medieval building-practice meant to represent the slumping head of the dying Christ. The chapterhouse has a small collection of stone statues (mostly gathered from elsewhere), the most noticeable of which are the Stone Age Tandragee Idol and a Sheila-na-Gig with an ass's ears. Outside the north transept a plaque on the west wall commemorates the burial of Brian Ború.
Armagh is known for its choral music, and the cathedral hosts the annual week-long Charles Wood Summer School in mid-August ( 
www.charleswoodsummerschool.org ), featuring a daily series of recitals.