Armachiana
The heading 'Armachiana', found in several display cases at the Museum, is a general term used to indicate that the information and objects relate to the development of Armagh city and county. Although the site has been occupied since Neolithic times, the city’s foundation is traditionally ...

Barn Owl
Anyone lucky enough to have seen a barn owl in the wild will be struck by beauty and silence of this impressive hunter. Such a sight in is now extremely rare in Northern Ireland with perhaps less that 50 breeding pairs as the birds are susceptible to wet weather, cold winters and loss of suitab...

Belleek rival?
Sometime between 1897 - 1900 potters from the Belleek factory in Co Fermanagh established a small factory near Coalisland, Co Tyrone. They manufactured a range of vessels similar to Belleek porcelain. Several of these beautifully decorated cups and jugs have found their way into the collection.Ex...

Bog butter
Sometimes Irish bogs reveal the most unusual finds. Two wooden 'methers', or drinking vessels, retrieved from bogs contain an unusual substance most commonly referred to as bog butter. The 'butter' is a waxy substance, a creamy white or very pale yellow in colour.This practice is found throu...

Buildings of Armagh
This painting is the work of Timothy Lennox, completed when he was a student in Armagh.It shows many of important buildings in the City, including the Museum, St Patrick's cathedrals and the War Memorial on the Mall.The painting was on loan for several years before being generously purchased by t...

Butter Stamps
The word butter comes from the Greek for cow's cheese and although we take it for granted, it still takes the staggering figure of 21 pounds of fresh cow's milk to make one pound of butter. The traditional role of women in butter making is also reflected in the word 'dairy', from Middle English...

City of Armagh (1810)
This detailed view of Armagh from the early 1800s by James Black shows some of the landmark buildings in the City.Although it is difficult to make out from this image, the original painting is quite large and it is possible to follow the town's street pattern.At one end of the Mall is the courtho...

Irons
The Chinese are among the first in recorded history to have used the idea of the iron and the application of heat to remove wrinkles from clothes. The Museum's collection charts the history of the basic principle - the need to heat the metal surface.This starts with the flat iron whose disadvanta...

Military
The period leading up to and after the 1798 rebellion by the United Irishmen was a tremendously tumultuous time, with many different fighting forces, each with different names and insignia. However, our wealth of material stemming from this period is one of the strengths of the displays.Obje...

Penal Crosses
The story of the crucifixion has inspired the imagination of artists for generations and in Ireland during the 18th century it found expression in wooden carved crosses.These 'penal' crosses take their name from a series of laws passed to suppress the Catholic population. It restricted the types ...