placenames.ie
County

Armagh

Ard Mhacha

Armagh’s landscape ranges from low ground near Lough Neagh to a more mountainous south, with an orchard tradition in between.

Recorded locationArmagh54.31215° N · 6.52954° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Approximate recorded location · Logainm.ieOpen in OpenStreetMap ↗

The name

ardheight; high

These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.

An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.

Recorded forms

  • Ard Mhacha · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Armagh · English · main form

Place & story

A north–south contrast

Lewis places the county’s northern edge on Lough Neagh and describes flatter ground in several northern and central districts. His separate topographical account turns to Slieve Gullion and the Fews in the south, with Camlough among the smaller lakes. This contrast is more useful than treating Armagh as one uniform landscape. The setting of a lakeshore farm and that of a southern upland townland may differ greatly despite sharing the same county address. [2] [3]

The orchard association

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council identifies orchard heritage as a distinctive part of the area’s history and records Bramley planting at Crannagael in 1884. That is a local cultivation history, not a claim that the apple variety originated in the county. Orchard associations should also be located precisely: they illuminate particular farming districts and businesses rather than proving that every Armagh ancestor grew apples or worked in the same agricultural economy. [4]

County, city and older territory

The county entry places Armagh within the historical Oriel region, which also extended into neighbouring counties. The city’s ecclesiastical importance is another, separate scale of geography. A source mentioning Armagh may therefore concern county land, a city household or church jurisdiction. Keep parish, townland, institution and date alongside the name. Lewis’s early tribal identifications and the folklore attached to particular hills require separate evidence before they are used as full-name explanations or personal genealogy. [2]

Geographic information

Place type
County
County
Armagh
Coordinates
54.31215, -6.52954 (approximate)
Mapped area
1,325.72 km²
Logainm ID
100001 ↗

People & family history

Census figures refer to the matched historical census area for each year. Boundaries and spellings can change over time.

1926 census

This year is outside the available dataset’s coverage. This does not indicate a population of zero.

Explore this county

Up to 50 places per page, ordered by name.

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Armagh. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. County Armagh — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  3. County Armagh topography — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  4. Tours celebrating Armagh’s Orchard County · Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
  5. Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2024-05-15. How this page was prepared.