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Armagh Natural History and Philosophical Society’s museum is the foundation of Armagh County Museum’s collection. The Society was established in 1839 and from 1856 occupied the former Charlemont Place School on The Mall East, Armagh City. In 1930 Armagh County Council acquired the premises by lease. A curator was appointed who built on the Society’s collection and in 1937 Armagh County Museum was officially opened as Ireland’s first County Museum.

Examples of significant acquisitions are:

The Tenison Collection of archaeological objects acquired by The Philosophical Society in 1861 is an important corpus of Irish stone, bronze and wooden objects is unrivalled in any other regional museum in Northern Ireland. (c.250 objects)

The Hull-Grundy collection of jewellery donated by Mrs Hull-Grundy between 1975 and 1982. Consists of c.150 examples of Victorian costume jewellery many made of Irish Bog Oak.

The Buchanan Toy Collection consists of early 20th century toys donated by Professor R.H. Buchanan, (c270 objects).

Rhodes donation consists of c130 objects ranging from archaeological objects to eighteenth century costume, fine furniture, paintings and silver connected with Gervais family.

Caledon Coin Collection consists of a small but significant collection of coins including 10 early hammered pieces, the earliest being a David II groat c1360. They are part of a hoard discovered in 1851.

Nelson Butterfly Collection consists of c1600 moths and butterflies collected by county Armagh naturalist Phyllis Ismay Nelson between 1940 and 1979.

The Dougan Collection is a valuable collection of c70,000 documents (probate, leases, miscellaneous legal papers) from several Armagh solicitor’s office.

The Scott Photographic Collection consists of c350,000 photographic negatives from a local studio of significant value to Armagh’s social history covering the period 1950 – 78.

The D.P. Martin Portrait Collection consists of c700 photographic portraits (cabinet cards and Carte DeVisites), of Armagh people with biographical notes covering the period 1860 – 1930.

The T.G.F. Paterson Manuscript Collection comprises 280 notebooks (c.25,000 pages) of mostly manuscript notes relating to all aspects of the history, archaeology, genealogy and folklore of the county and further afield.

The Blacker Manuscripts consists of 10 books of manuscript notes by William and Stewart Blacker (Co. Armagh 19^th century politicians and soldiers). Contains primary source material relating to foundation of Orange Order and an important history of Armagh Militia.

Charlemont Estate Papers consists of rentals, leases, estate maps and accounts (18^th and 19^th century) relating to Lord Charlemont’s estate in Co. Armagh.

The Philip B Wilson Library consists of over 2,000 volumes. Subjects include local history, church history, agriculture, archaeology, Irish Military history, transport history and architecture. It also includes a collection of 700 rare volumes relating to Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Also a Methodist Book Collection containing over 1,500 rare texts and volumes.

The most significant collectors were T.G.F. Paterson and D.R.M. Weatherup whose combined time as curators spanned 63 years.

Paterson was instrumental in creating a coherent collection in areas such as fine and applied art, human history, archaeology, and folklife. Weatherup’s continued to consolidate in these areas also strengthening the Natural History and transport collection. Both men built up the fine library (c6000 vols) and archive that is regarded as one of the most important local studies collections in Northern Ireland.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: Not known

Licence: CC BY-NC

The extent of Armagh County Museum’s collection is in the range of 360,000 items. The collections are diverse and span all time periods, concentrating on County Armagh, its people, built heritage and landscape. They can be classified within six broad subject areas.

• Art
• Folk Life
• Human History
• Transport and Industry
• Natural Sciences
• Support Collection

Art

The art collections include fine and applied art most with close connections to county Armagh. In excess of 3,500 items, the art collection contains paintings, works on paper, ceramics, silver, jewellery, furniture, and textiles. Typically the fine art comprises the work of artists with Armagh connections, portraits of Armagh people or topographical works depicting aspects of county Armagh. It is one of the largest collections of public art in Northern Ireland.

Folk Life

A proportionally small but significant part of the collection focuses on rural traditions and ways of life county Armagh in the context neighbouring counties. The collections fall into two categories: Expressive and Material Culture.

Expressive Culture

Concentrating on folklore and language; the collections in this area are mainly note books of the first curator, T.G.F. Paterson but also include objects such as paper ephemera, regalia, religious objects and folk art.

Material Culture

The Material Culture collections cover the subject areas of domestic life and textiles. There is also a collection (c.60 items), of agricultural tools and equipment.

Domestic Life, comprising objects associated with the ‘home’ and home-making activities such as household management, housework and childrearing. Objects include toys (c.600 items), ceramic and glass ware (c.250 items), furniture (c.60 items) and general household equipment, complemented by photographs and archive material.

Textiles (c.600 items), reflecting local textile production and use including patchwork quilts, lace, samplers, and hand-woven linen.

Human History

The Human History collections reflect evidence of people and events from the earliest settlers, through the main archaeological and historical periods up to the present day.

Archaeology, (c.4300 items), with a particular emphasis on material from counties Armagh, Down and Tyrone and mostly dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.

History, collections cover a very wide range of objects relating to the political, social and economic history of Ulster especially county Armagh, from the early medieval period to the present. These encompass archival materials such as photographs (c.320,000), maps (c.350), paper ephemera (c.5,000), books (c.6,000), weaponry (c.170), coins, banknotes, medals and tokens (c.800). Covered in more detail in section 5 below.

Transport and Industry

The Transport collections cover all forms of transport built or used in county Armagh, mostly eighteenth century and later.

The collections include:

Rail, road and water transport

A fine collection of Irish railway equipment, ephemera and uniforms with an emphasis on rail and tramways that operated in county Armagh and surrounding districts, eg. Great Northern Railway, Ulster Railway and Clogher Valley Railway.

Smaller collections of similar items connected with road and canal transport.

Natural Sciences

The Natural Sciences collections have particular emphasis on the geology and zoology of the county but also surrounding areas.

Geology, over 200 examples of mostly local geological material (rocks, fossils and minerals).

Zoology, consisting of terrestrial invertebrates, mainly insects and molluscs totalling (c.2000), marine invertebrates and vertebrates, mainly birds and mammals (c. 200). Significant among this section is the Phyllis Ismay Nelson (1907-79) collection of moths and butterflies.

A small amount of related material including drawings and natural science field-books, photographs, and field notebooks.

Support Collection

Unaccessioned objects used for learning and research include the handling collection and most modern books in the reference library. These are used as part of the museum’s learning programme and by students and researchers. They are nevertheless catalogued but are differentiated from accessioned objects by the prefix SCA.

Archival holdings

There are several archival collections in Armagh County Museum, outlined below.

Map Collection

Both printed and manuscript maps (c550 items) ranging from nineteenth century OS 6″ series to estate maps, valuation maps and architectural plans.

Photographic Collections

D.P.Martin collection of photographic portraits (620 items) of Armagh people with biographical information.

Weatherup transparencies, (c4000) colour slides taken by former curator recording the changing face of County Armagh between c1965 – 1985.

Scott Collection (c350,000), black and white negatives from Armagh photographic studio made between c1950 – 1976.

Museum Photographic Print Collection, (c4500 items) mostly black and white photos acquired by the museum, recording the people and places of County Armagh.

Postcard Collection, (c2000 items) containing photographic postcard views of Co. Armagh and the wider area in the north of Ireland.

Estate Papers

Charlemont estate papers, (c100 items) including estate maps, rentals, leases, expense books etc relating to Lord Charlemont’s estates in Co Armagh

Local Studies Sources

T.G.F. Paterson manuscript collection comprises 280 notebooks (c.25,000 pages) of mostly manuscript notes relating to all aspects of the history, archaeology, genealogy and folklore of the county and further afield.

Dougan Collection is an important archive for the study of genealogy and local studies in the Armagh area. Many of the papers (c70,000) derive from several local solicitors’ offices including Joshua Peel and Munroe & Anderson. They include, estate papers, probate papers and documents relating to property.

Museum Library collection consists of c11,500 books and pamphlets on all aspects of the history of county Armagh and to a lesser extent Irish history. Includes some rare 17^th century books. Including collections of scarce Quaker and Methodist books.

Blacker Manuscripts, are a collection of daybooks, diaries, memoirs and albums compiled by William Blacker and other members of the Blacker family c1813-1880 (15 volumes). Contains important accounts of military and political events most notably events connected to the origin of Orange Order.

AE Archive is a collection of personal belongings, drafts of poems and plays as well as several hundred letters written by the polymath George Russell (AE). Largest collection of papers relating to AE outside the USA.

Source: Collection development policy

Date:

Licence: CC BY-NC

Library Collection

The library collection was started when the Armagh Observatory was founded in 1789. Presently the reference library comprises approximately three thousand textbooks, five thousand celestial photographs, over one thousand shelf-metres of manuscripts, journals, periodicals and textbooks, plus non-print media such as slides, videos and CDs. This Collection is catalogued and maintained by a Special Collections Librarian.

The Rare and Antiquarian Scientific Book Collection

The rare and antiquarian scientific book collection also started at the foundation of the Armagh Observatory and continued to be added to up to 1883. Many of the over 240 volumes were part of the collection of Thomas Robinson, the third director of the Observatory (1823-1882). Most volumes were published in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The earliest printed works stem from the early printing era, dated 1499.

Archives

The archives comprise a wide variety of papers and other items, which relate to the running of Armagh Observatory since its foundation to the present day, and to research conducted nationally and internationally. The pre-1917 archives cover approximately 5 shelf metres, the post-1916 archives approximately 13 shelf metres.

In 1795 the Observatory began systematic meteorological observations, and now has the longest continuous daily climate series from a single site anywhere in the UK and Ireland. They cover an unusual length of time (1795 to the present day). The records benefited from the rural location of the Observatory, which has not affected the recordings, as with many18^th century urban observatories.

Photographic Plate Collection

AOP houses the most extensive collection of astronomical photographic plates in Ireland, many of which are important for the studies of Magellanic Clouds and of southern hemisphere objects.

Scientific Instrument Collection

The historic scientific instrument collection at AOP largely contains instruments that were used at Armagh Observatory for scientific research from the foundation in 1789 up to second half of the twentieth century. Many of the instruments were manufactured during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The present collection contains several hundred instruments and Observatory related objects.

Planetarium Collection

In 2015, Armagh Planetarium and Armagh Observatory were merged to create a unified organisational structure, Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. The Planetarium holds a collection of objects, slide sets, meteorites, analogue and digital media and archive material relating to space and space travel, which are currently under review.

Art and Furnishing Collection

Armagh Observatory and Planetarium have an extensive collection of antique and valuable furnishings and artwork ranging from oil paintings to photographic portraits. These collections form a functional and aesthetically important part of our heritage.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: Not known

Licence: CC BY-NC

The basis of the collection is Archbishop Robinson’s personal library and collections, consisting of printed works, as well as manuscripts, prints, gem impressions, coins and medals. Items were added by Robinson’s brother, Sir Thomas Robinson, and by later Archbishops, including Marcus Gervais Beresford and Charles D’Arcy. The 19th century Keeper, William Reeves, added considerably to the Library’s collections during his tenure.

The Library continues to collect, with additions such as the archives of Archbishops JAF Gregg and Robin Eames, and the purchase of a collection of books on Jonathan Swik.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

Books and manuscripts

The collection has some 51,000 entries covering a wide range of subjects. The basis of the collection was Archbishop Robinson’s personal library which contained approximately 8,000 17th and 18th century books on theology, philosophy, classic and modern literature, voyages and travels, history, medicine and law.

The earliest printed book is John Gerson’s De modo vivendi omnium fidelium, printed in Louvain in 1484. The collection of manuscripts includes medieval manuscripts on various religious and governmental subjects, as well as more recent manuscripts from local government, for example, Armagh Corporation Books : 1776-1814

Prints

The collection of engravings, including the Rokeby Collection which was donated to the Library by Archbishop Robinson, amounts to an impressive collection of over 4,000 prints.

Bound in volumes and as individual prints, the collection covers a span of some four centuries, including works by Vouet, Mellan, Goltzius, Hogarth, Piranesi, and the Sadeler family.

Drawings

A set of fifteen drawings by William Conor on the theme of St Patrick, purchased and accessioned in 2001.

Coins

Archbishop Robinson left his collection of coins to the Library. These have been listed and catalogued by the Ulster Museum. Indications are that the collection dates back to Robinson’s time and was systematically gathered with duplicating types to allow for both sides of coins to be displayed. The collection includes over 300 Roman imperial sestertii.

Gems

Accompanied by ‘A catalogue of impressions in sulphur of antique and modern Gems from which partes are made and sold by J. Tassie, 1775’, the gems were presented to the Library by Robinson who had cabinets made to house them.

Beresford Collection

Archbishop Marcus Gervais Beresford was a collector of bronzes, stone flints, axe heads and other archaeological objects which were left to the Library, following his death.

Archives

The archives of three Archbishops – John George Beresford (1822 – 1862), John Allen Fitzgerald Gregg (1938 – 1959), Robert Henry Alexander Eames (1986 – 2006) – are held in the Museum.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Armitt was originally founded as a library in 1912 following a bequest of books and money on the death of Miss Mary Louisa Armitt. In her will, she expressed a wish that a museum should eventually be established. The Armitt incorporates the Ambleside Book Society established in 1828 and the Ambleside Ruskin Library established by Hardwicke Rawnsley in 1882. Other significant cultural figures associated with each of these groups, included John Ruskin, Frederic Yates and Mr and Mrs Heelis (Beatrix Potter).

During the 20th century, various social, local and nationally important objects were collected, including artefacts recovered from the Ambleside Roman Fort, Lake District guidebooks and an important collection of original artworks were also donated.

The Armitt has been based in a number of different locations in Ambleside, starting in a small cottage on Kelsick Road in 1912, moving later to The Orchard on Lake Road, then into rooms above the newly-built public library, and finally into a purpose-built museum thanks to a successful Heritage Lottery Fund bid in 1997.

Since then, The Armitt’s museum, gallery and library have been open to the public and the collections, based on the life and culture of the Lake District, have continued to grow

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

The Armitt’s collections comprise some 76,000 items including books, photographs, artworks, manuscripts, maps and archaeological and other objects of Lake District significance. Many items have been donated to The Armitt by benefactors with strong local links.

Some of the most important and recognised aspects to the collection are:

• Items originally belonging to Mary Louisa Armitt and her sisters, Annie and Sophia. These include books, artworks by Sophia, manuscripts, and personal objects.
• Guidebooks and artworks covering the discovery of the Lakes donated by Alderman Henry Plummer, including first edition guides and large folios of William Green artworks. These include a collection of all his published works, and a large group of substantial working pencil drawings, the most comprehensive in the world.
• Fungi, archaeological artefacts and natural history artworks by Beatrix Potter – over 300 pieces that have been exhibited nationally and internationally.
• Documents, books, and artefacts related to educational pioneer Charlotte Mason who set up her House of Education in Ambleside in 1891, now the site of the University of Cumbria’s Ambleside campus.
• An extensive photographic collection that spans glass plate negatives, magic lantern slides, paper photographs, and photographic equipment. Most of these illustrate aspects of Lakeland life and activities, such as farming, landscapes, village events, studio portraits, and climbing.
•  Archaeological finds, predominantly those from excavations during the 20th century at Ambleside’s Roman Fort and nearby vicus (settlement), but also prehistoric finds such as hand axes from the Langdale valley.
• Kurt Schwitters artworks, mainly from the period when he was living and working in/around Ambleside, and mostly comprising paintings of local scenes.
•  Items linked to other notable Lake District figures, including letters from and to John Ruskin and WG Collingwood material.

The collection as a whole is almost entirely items on paper or other 2-dimensional formats with the majority dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2024

Licence: CC BY-NC

Decorative and Applied Art Collection

The Thompson Collection is two separate collections. One is an important collection of over a hundred blue and white blanc de chine Transitional Period (17th century) works. The second provides over 120 choice examples from the Tang to the Qing dynasties (c.618-1850).

Subjects

Decorative and Applied Arts

Fine Art Collection

The collection includes examples of work by Beardsley, Sickert, Steer, Lucien Pissarro, Augustus John, Stanley Spencer, Wyndham Lewis and Ben Nicholson as well as sculpture by Epstein, Gill, Gaudier-Brzeska and Henry Moore. The Camden Town Group and Bloomsbury artists are particularly well represented.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC