Archbishop’s Palace, County Armagh
Armagh Palace, County Armagh
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 12. “The Palace of the (C. of I.) Archbishops of Armagh and Primates. A plain and dignified late C18 block, nine bays long and four bays deep, originally of two storeys over a high rusticated basement. Built 1770, to the design of Thomas Cooley, by Primate Richard Robinson, who added a third storey 1786, his architect then being Francis Johnston. Later, a large enclosed porch was added, with pairs of Ionic columns set at an angle to the front. Flanking the entrance front of the Palace is the Primate’s Chapel, a detached building in the form of an Ionic temple. The exterior, of 1781, is by Cooley; but the interior was carried out after Cooley’s death in 1784 by Francis Johnston, who succeeded him as architect to Primate Robinson. Johnston’s interior, a modification of Cooley’s design, is one of the most beautiful surviving C18 ecclesiastical interiors in Ireland; with a coffered barrel-vaulted ceiling, a delicate frieze, Corinthian pilasters, a gallery with a curved rear wall, and splendid panelling and pews. The Palace is surrounded by a well-wooded demesne, in which there is an obelisk, also by Johnston. The Church of Ireland is at present building a modern residence for the Primate on Cathedral Hill, so that the future of the Palace is uncertain.”
http://www.nihgt.org/resources/pdf/Register_of_Parks_Gardens_Demesnes-NOV20.pdf
THE PALACE (ARMAGH), County Armagh (AP ARMAGH, BANBRIDGE and CRAIGAVON 03) –
A/029
REGISTERED GRADE A
The Archbishop’s Palace walled demesne occupies 348 acres (141ha) on the south perimeter of the City of Armagh, the grounds now belonging to the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Council who use the palace of 1768-75 and stable yard for office accommodation. The palace and
its demesne owe their existence to Archbishop Richard Robinson (1708-1794), who, following his elevation to the Primacy of Armagh in 1765, demanded a residence in Armagh appropriate to his status; his predecessors had resided mainly in the palace in Drogheda, while the see house in English Street, had fallen into disrepair. Accordingly, in 1769 an Act of Parliament was passed for the enclosure of a demesne incorporating the townlands of Parkmore, Drumarg and part of
Ballnaone, church property that fittingly included the remains of the Franciscan friary, founded in 1263, whose impressive ruins now lie at the entrance to the demesne (ARM 012:016). The building of the palace in the centre of the demesne on a height overlooking the city had already
begun by 1768, if not earlier, for by February 1769 Robinson ‘hath already erected and covered in
the shell of a house for himself and his successors’. The building (Listed HB 15/18/016), a chase
but dignified classical block of nine bays and four bays deep, was originally of two-stories over a
high rusticated basement, but it was subsequently raised in 1825 by Francis Johnson, who also Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020
added a porch. The original palace building, completed in 1775 at a cost of £10,322 17s 9d was
evidently the work of Dublin architect George Ensor, but the Sardinian architect, Davis Ducart may
also have been involved. Lying on slightly higher ground 93 yards (85m) to the west is the cobbled
stable yard – a two-storey Palladian quadrangle built at the same time as the palace (Listed HB
15/18/018), probably also by Ensor; it was burnt in 1859 and rebuilt with a few additions by the
Belfast architect W.J. Barre. Also in the 1770s an icehouse was built in the woods behind the yard
(Listed HB 15/18/015), while between the house and yard a chapel for the Archbishop was
erected in 1781 of ashlar limestone in the form of a classical Roman temple to a design by the
English architect Thomas Cooley (Listed HB 15/18/017); the Primate’s Chapel was completed by
Francis Johnston after Cooley’s death in March 1784 (chapel deconsecrated in 1977). The Clerk of
Works for the construction of buildings ‘in and about the demesne’ at this time was Euclid Alfrey
and William Johnston (father of Francis); in addition to the house, yards and chapel, their work
will have included the 48m high eye-catcher Rokeby Obelisk (Listed HB 15/18/021), erected in
1782-83 on a hill 0.6 miles (0.9km) south-east of the palace; designed by Thomas Cooley from a
sketch by John Carr of York, this obelisk was built to commemorate the friendship between
Archbishop Robinson, by then raised as the first Baron Rokeby and Hugh Percy, the first Duke of
Northumberland (1714-1786), who as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland had appointed him to the
Primacy. The Obelisk was originally set on the north side of a small woodland plantation atop the
hill in a carefully designed parkscape laid out in the Reptonian Picturesque manner then popular.
The landscape designer is not known, but he made skilled use of the undulating landscape by
setting the palace in sweeping open meadows (‘lawns’) with isolated trees, clumps, belts and
perimeter screens – all of which were judicially laid out so as to enjoy fine views of the city and its
cathedral both from the palace and from a network of walks and drives which meandered their
way through surrounding meadows and shelter belts. The planting in the park seems to have
been nearly all undertaken in the 1770s; a report of 1775 says that young trees to the value of
£283 6s 3d had then been planted in the demesne; the species were mostly beech and ask, but
also included sycamore, chestnut, lime, ash and elm; remarkably, the woodland and screen
boundaries then established remained unaltered into the mid-20th century. When Arthur Young
visited in 1776 he admired the ‘large lawn’ around the palace, which ‘spreads on every side over
the hills, and skirted by young plantations, in one of which is a terrace, which commands a most
beautiful view of cultivated hill and dale.’ Inglis visited the park in 1834 and found it ‘… in
excellent order … laid out with much taste’. At a slightly later date, probably in the 1780s, the
main Newtownhamilton road was diverted westward to its present course (A29/B31) to expand
the parkland; it notable that much of the parkland planting lies east of the old line of this road.
Within this area lies the architecturally notable Palace Farm (Listed HB 15/19/013), erected in the
1790s, probably to a design by Francis Johnson, 0.3 miles (0.5km) south-west of the palace.
Enclosed by open parkland, with flanking tree screens each side, this yard comprises a large and
pleasantly designed quadrangle fronted by twin farmhouses; it was admired by Sir Charles Coole
in 1804, who remarked that ‘his grace’s farmyard, implements of husbandry and mode of culture,
afford a bright example to the gentry’. Invariably, demesne farm buildings were located
conveniently to the walled garden; however, here the walled garden, which was built for kitchen
produce (vegetables, flowers, fruit) in the 1770s lay in the north of the demesne where it was
characteristically carefully screened with trees from the parkland. It occupied a large rectangular
stone walled area (440ft/121m x 440ft/134m) covering 4.25 acres (1.72ha), which was typically
divided by paths into four quadrant sections with a circular pond in the centre. The walled slip
gardens lay on its north and east sides; one of these areas, the frame yard, is known in 1863 to
have included three ‘Green Houses’, two ‘Vine Pits’; a ‘Vinery’; ‘Fruit House’; ‘Mellon Pit’ and
‘Mushroom Pit’ in addition to offices and a ‘cole pit’. One of the other walled slip enclosures was
made into a pleasure garden, known as ‘Lady Anne’s Garden’, laid out in box-edged rose beds; it
was entered via a fine wrought iron gate, c.1840 and named after a sister (died 1842) of Lord John
George de la Poer Beresford, Primate from 1822 to 1862. All these slip gardens were removed in
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020
the 1950s and are now covered by car parks, while the walled garden area itself has been used
since the 1970s by Armagh Rugby Club; its enclosing walls were partly cleared at this time
although much of the walling to the east and north has survived, along with a section to the
south. North of the walled garden lies the old head gardener’s residence/aka Frazer House (Listed
HB 15/18/014), a relatively large two-storey gables house built sometime around 1790; currently
this is used to house the planning, and births marriages and deaths registry office. Significantly
perhaps, the ruins of the adjacent friary were not incorporated into the landscaped parkland in
the 1770s, but rather left obscured behind a wall and within an orchard (it may be noted that in
1557 the friary then had its own orchard and garden). Indeed, stones from the friary were robbed
to build walls in the demesne in the 1760s and 1770s and not until the early Victorian era that it
became a romantic ruin in the park; by 1888 Bassett referred to ‘the picturesque effect of the
immediate surroundings’ [of the friary] being ‘heightened by splendid Irish yews and stately forest
trees’; some of these yews are still present in this area and there is a wall with a high arch
opening onto the friary church at its west end. The present public entrance to the demesne lies a
short distance from these ruins; this dates from the building of the ‘Friary Road’ by-pass in the
early 1970s, which removed the northern perimeter tree belts of the park and resulted in the
demolition of the main 18th century gate lodge and the movement of the Cooley-designed
limestone entrance gates piers – effectively cutting the palace demesne off from the city. The
damage was made worse by the later building of the large unsightly Armagh City Hotel (2006),
which now dominates much of what used to be the north-east part of the parkland. Of the three
former gate lodges into the park, only one is now extant, that on south of the demesne from the
Newtownhamilton Road (not listed). The enclosing wall of the demesne, which unfortunately has
been damaged, removed and lowered in a number of places, was largely built in the 1770s on the
north, east and south sides, while the wall flanking the later section on the west was constructed
between 1803-05 at a cost of £3,233 10s 8d, by Archbishop William Stuart. Unlike many large
contemporary parks, no lake was made in the Primate’s Demesne, but below the palace
meanders a stream north to south through the park; in the 19th century some small weirs were
built on the stream to enliven its water and so add to its picturesque effect, while it was crossed
by a number of small bridges, some relics of which still remain. There is no historic arboretum in
the park, but from the mid-19th century a number of exotic trees, including sequoia, were planted
around the palace and on its approaches; since the 1960s the council have added to this
collection. South-west of the palace a small ornamental garden was made around the mid-19th
century, which is overlooked by a fine metal curvilinear lean-to glasshouse of c.1860 with heating
pipes (Listed HB 15/18/020); in section it is quadrant shaped with recesses, possibly for pots,
along the base of the wall. The building contained vines and shelving for pots and is now used to
grow flowers for Armagh City and District Council. The associated garden has stone-edged paths,
flowering shrubs, including magnolia, topiary and stone urns. Close by on the south side of the
palace is a 20th century garden with stone sundial, clipped box hedges and a ‘Garden of the
Senses’ created in the 1990s. The main house remained the archbishop’s palace until 1975 when
a see house was built beside the cathedral. The palace and the core of the demesne were
conveyed to Armagh City and District Council two years later and since 1981 the palace has been
used as their offices with the service drive becoming the main entrance. The palace outbuildings
have become a visitors’ centre—‘The Palace Stables’—with an adventure playground made beside
the public car park to the west, all concealed in woodland, however the car park for the council
office was less well concealed. In 2015 improvements were made to the front sweep of the
palace, removing unsightly fencing and confining cars to a relatively discrete car park north-west
of the house. Separate from council ownership is a golf course which occupies 126 acres (51ha) of
the north-east section of the parkland. This had its origin in 1893-94 when a golf course was
established here, but unfortunately in 1975 what had been previously a discretely laid out course
was dramatically remodelled and extended to eighteen holes, resulting in the removal of much of
the park’s 18th century south-eastern woodland belts but also saw the planting of extensive
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020
fairway screens of fir, which are not only out of character with the original park scheme but block
the historic vistas south; however, the golf course remains part of the registered area in the hope
that this damage can be reversed at some stage in the future. SMR ARM 12:16 Franciscan Friary
ruins, ARM 12:017 St Bridget’s Holy Well. Public access to part of the grounds.
Irish Historic Houses 