Geograph - photograph every grid square

The Anglican Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Armagh and Church of Ireland Primate of All Ireland, stand on the hill of Druim Saileach (hill of the sally-trees), the site chosen in 445 by St Patrick for a church which he deemed would be pre-eminent over all other churches in Ireland. Armagh was the subject of constant attacks. Between 670 and 1642 it was plundered, burnt and destroyed on no fewer than 26 occasions. The basic form of the present cathedral is said to have been laid down by Archbishop O'Scannail in 1270, but the cathedral that stands today is the work of the English architect Lewis Cottingham who worked on it in the 1830s. It is in the Early English style, and more muted in style than the Catholic cathedral on the other side of the valley.