Situated within walking distance of the city centre, for over two hundred years the undulating parkland of the Palace Demesne has been one of the glories of Armagh. The Demesne, comprising some 300 acres, is the creation of Archbishop Richard Robinson. The Palace was the residence of the Archbishops of the Church of Ireland from 1770 to 1975.
There is also a restaurant and coffee shop within the grounds called the Moody Boar.
The Park is open freely all year round however the area around the palace and its immediate gardens are only open from APPROX 8am THROUGH TO 6pm. If the main gate is closed, you may be able to access the gardens through the stable building where the restaurant, ‘The Moody Boar’, is located.
The Palace, Armagh, built in 1770, is described by Mark Bence-Jones as a plain, dignified 18th century block. It is of nine bays, the side elevation being five bays. The Palace was originally two storeys over a high, rusticated basement. It was erected to the design of Thomas Cooley, by Archbishop Robinson, afterwards elevated to the peerage as 1st Baron Rokeby.
A third storey was added in 1786. Sometime later, a substantial enclosed porch was added, with pairs of Ionic columns set at an angle to the front. Adjacent to the entrance front is the Primatial Chapel, a separate building in the style of an Ionic temple. Its exterior, also by Cooley, is of 1770; though the interior was fitted out three years later, in 1784, by Francis Johnston. The chapel's interior is said to be one of the most beautiful surviving Irish ecclesiastical interiors, boasting a coffered, barrel-vaulted ceiling; a delicate frieze; Corinthian pilasters; a gallery; magnificent panelling; and pews. Lord John George Beresford, appointed to the Primacy in 1822, raised the palace from three to four stories, thereby greatly increasing the dignity of the structure.
The cache is a magnetic nano. There are several parking areas within the park and a newly refurbished playground.