Things to do in County Armagh

Situated in Armagh close to the border of County Down, Gosford Castle is 14 miles south of Craigavon. The castle was built of local granite in a Norman Revival style with a crenellated three storey keep and huge round tower. The entrance has two drum like towers at each side and a curved bay window above. It is set in 11 acres of landscaped gardens and parkland which also contain a walled garden. Today the castle appears the same on the outside but inside it is very different; it has been made into 23 individual apartments ranging from one to four storeys in height. Facilities Some of the castle's apartments are available to rent, including one in the stable yard, and another in the east wing. The stable yard apartment can sleep up to 5 guests in three bedrooms; it features large granite arches, high ceilings with oak beams and a limestone fireplace with cast iron stove. The east tower apartment sleeps up to 4 people in 2 bedrooms and also has high ceilings with views over the castle and courtyard. Gosford Castle was designed by the architect Thomas Hooper for the 2nd Earl of Gosford, Archibald Acheson, construction began in 1819 with funds provided by his wife. She chose to have the castle built in a Norman revival style as she was a friend of Lord Byron's wife and preferred something romantic. The castle was not completed until the 1850's but with its 197 rooms was the largest house in Ireland. In 1921 the contents of the castle were sold by the 4th Earl to pay off gambling debts and due to lack of funds the castle fell it into disrepair. The Second World War saw the castle used as a prisoner of war camp and it was even the winter headquarters for a traveling circus in later years. In 1958 the Ministry of Agriculture bought the estate and established Gosford Forest Park and the castle. The castle was in need of urgent work and in 1978 a development company was granted on a 99 year lease to develop private homes on the site. Due to difficulties with the developer the council regained possession of the castle in 2002 and sold it to the Boyd partnership who took on the task of changing the Grade A listed building into private dwellings.

Moyry Castle near Jonesborough in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, is a ruined early seventeenth-century fortification overlooking the strategically vital Gap of the North, the Moyry Pass that formed the main route between Leinster and Ulster and the most important military corridor in medieval and early modern Ireland. The castle was built by Lord Mountjoy in 1601 during his campaign to suppress the Ulster rebellion of Hugh O'Neill, constructed to secure the pass and prevent reinforcement of O'Neill's forces from the south. The compact three-storey tower with its four round corner turrets is an unusually complete plantation-era fortification, giving a clear impression of the military architecture used to consolidate English control of Ulster following the Nine Years' War.

Navan Fort, known in Irish as Emain Macha, is the most significant ancient royal site in Ulster and one of the most important archaeological and mythological locations in the whole of Ireland. Located approximately two kilometres west of the city of Armagh, the site consists of a large circular earthwork enclosing a remarkable raised mound created during a dramatic ritual event around 94 BC, an act of deliberate, one-time monument building that was recorded in the earliest Irish literature and confirmed by modern archaeology. The mythology associated with Navan Fort is as rich as the archaeology. In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Emain Macha served as the capital of the ancient province of Ulster and the seat of the legendary king Conchobar Mac Nessa. The great heroes of these stories, including Cú Chulainn, the greatest warrior of Irish mythology, are described as living and fighting in the context of this royal site. The stories of the Red Branch Knights, the warrior elite of ancient Ulster, centre on this location in the same way that Arthurian legend centres on Camelot. Whether these literary traditions preserve genuine historical memory of a real royal centre or are entirely fictional in their connection to the site remains a matter of academic debate, but the convergence of mythology and archaeology at Navan Fort is remarkable. The main visible feature of the site is the oval earthwork enclosing a raised mound approximately 50 metres in diameter. Archaeological excavation in the 1960s revealed that this mound was created by first constructing a large circular timber building approximately 40 metres across, filling it with limestone boulders and then setting it on fire before covering the whole structure with turf. The date obtained for this event, approximately 94 BC, makes it a rare example of a precisely datable deliberate destruction and transformation of a monument. Earlier phases of the site include circular houses and evidence of successive phases of occupation stretching back to at least 700 BC. The Navan Centre and Fort visitor attraction adjacent to the site provides an excellent introduction to both the archaeology and the mythology of Emain Macha, with engaging exhibitions and live performance elements that bring the mythological stories to life. The nearby Church of Ireland and Catholic Cathedrals of Armagh and the city's other historic sites make a visit to Navan Fort a natural part of a broader day exploring this historically extraordinary city.

Tandragee Castle is a nineteenth-century Gothic Revival castle in the town of Tandragee in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, built on the site of earlier castle remains overlooking the town and the River Cusher valley. The building is now occupied by Tayto, one of Northern Ireland's most famous food brands, producing the popular Tayto crisps that are a beloved part of Northern Irish food culture. The combination of nineteenth-century Gothic castle and crisp factory represents one of the more unusual heritage uses of a historic building in Northern Ireland, and the Tayto crisp brand has created a tourist attraction in its own right at the castle, with tours of the crisp factory and a visitor attraction that celebrates the extraordinary cultural status of the Tayto brand in Northern Irish identity.