In 1765 a man arrived in Armagh and decided it was the wrong shape.
Richard Robinson was the new Church of Ireland Primate, and Armagh was a small ecclesiastical town built mostly of mud and thatch. He had money, he had authority, and he had a very particular idea. He was going to rebuild the whole place in stone, in the classical style, and turn it into a city that looked like the seat of a church.
He very nearly managed it. And the reason Armagh throws a Georgian festival every November is that most of what he built is still standing, and you can walk round the lot of it in an afternoon.
When is the Armagh Georgian Festival 2026?
Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 November 2026. Four days, across the city centre.
One thing to watch if you are searching for this: the council’s own press pages are still carrying last year’s dates, 27 to 30 November, because in 2025 the festival ran Thursday to Sunday on different numbers. The 2026 dates above are the ones on the official Visit Armagh festival page. If you see 30 November anywhere, that is last year.
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Why Armagh is a Georgian city at all
Robinson was Archbishop from 1765 until his death in 1794, and he spent nearly thirty years and a great deal of his own money on the town. He hired two serious architects, Thomas Cooley and then Francis Johnston, and worked through a list.
He built himself an Archbishop’s Palace and stables. He restored St Patrick’s Cathedral and put in the organ that is still there. He built a public library and filled it with his own book collection, which makes Robinson’s Library the oldest public library in Northern Ireland. He built No 5 Vicars’ Hill as the Diocesan Registry, to hold the church records. He founded the Armagh Observatory, which holds the oldest telescope in Ireland.
And he took the Commons, an open space that the town had been using for horse racing and boxing matches, and turned it into the Mall: a long green promenade for respectable walking. That change of use tells you as much about Robinson as the buildings do.
He also wanted a university in Armagh. He was not the first to want one and he did not get it, which is why Armagh is a cathedral city with an observatory and a library and no students.
What’s on at the Georgian Festival 2026
The confirmed ticketed events, all booking through TicketSolve via the Visit Armagh site:
- Georgian Banquet: Courting & Confections. Friday 27 November
- Mock Trials at Armagh Courthouse. Saturday 28 November
- Behind Bars: Guided Gaol Tours. Saturday 28 November
- A Georgian Wedding Breakfast. Sunday 29 November
There are two festival passes if you want more than one thing: a Little Georgians Family Pass and a Georgian Society Weekend Pass.
Alongside the ticketed events, the festival runs what it describes as Northern Ireland’s largest festive artisan market. Last year that was over 130 stalls through the streets and Shambles Yard, with street music, costumed characters and children’s entertainment. There is also a Georgian light show at the Market House, which in 2025 was called Step into Christmas. For 2026 the light show is still listed as coming soon, and last year its tickets went on sale at the start of November, so that is when to look.
I will update this page once the full 2026 programme is out. If you are planning around it, the ticketed events are the ones that sell, and the market is free to wander.
The free bit most people miss
Armagh Robinson Library on Abbey Street opens specially for the festival and it costs nothing. Saturday 28 November, 12pm to 5pm, and Sunday 29 November, 2pm to 5pm. Drop in, no booking.
Library staff and volunteers bring out parts of the collection and talk you through it, and there are Georgian living history interpreters in the building. There is a caricaturist in the library on the Saturday and a silhouette cutter on the Sunday, both of which are period-correct and both of which children tend to like more than they expect to. Over at No 5 Vicars’ Hill there is wax sealing on the Saturday.
The library also holds an annotated copy of Gulliver’s Travels, which is worth asking about while you are standing in the room Robinson built to hold it.
What else to do in Armagh while you are there
Armagh is small enough that you can add all of this to a festival weekend without rushing.
The two cathedrals. There are two St Patrick’s Cathedrals in Armagh, one Church of Ireland and one Roman Catholic, on separate hills, facing each other across the city. Walk between them. The arrangement says more about Irish history than any information panel will.
Navan Fort. Two miles west of the city is Emain Macha, the royal seat of the kings of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle and the setting for much of the Táin. What survives above ground is an earthwork on a hilltop, so go for what happened there rather than what is standing. The Navan Centre next door does the interpretation and has costumed guides.
Book Navan Centre & Fort entry tickets
Orchard country. Armagh is the Orchard County and the Bramley apple has protected status here. Late November is after the harvest, but the cider is not.
Book the Blossom to Bottle orchard and cider tour with tasting
Dan Winter’s Cottage. A thatched cottage at Loughgall connected to the founding of the Orange Order in 1795, one year after Robinson died. Whatever you think of the subject, it is a primary site and it is handled as one.
Book the guided tour of Dan Winter’s Cottage
Getting there and practicalities
Armagh has no railway station, which surprises people. It is about 45 minutes from Belfast by road, an hour and a half from Dublin, and about an hour and three quarters from Derry. There are buses from Belfast, but for a festival weekend where you also want Navan Fort and the orchards, a car is the honest answer.
Compare car hire for Northern Ireland
On money: Armagh is in Northern Ireland, so it is pound sterling, not euro. If you are coming up from Dublin or across from Donegal you are changing currency, and there is no border checkpoint to remind you.
On beds: Armagh is a small city and this is its busiest weekend of the year. Book early, and if the city is full, Portadown, Banbridge and Newry are all within half an hour.
On weather: it is the end of November in Ireland. Waterproof coat, proper shoes, and accept that the light goes at about four o’clock, which does the light show a considerable favour.
Where to stay in Armagh
Armagh is a small city and the Georgian Festival weekend is its busiest of the year, so this is not a booking to leave until the week before.
In the city itself the options are limited but walkable, which matters when the festival is spread across the streets and you want to come back for the light show after dark. The Armagh City Hotel is the main one, and there is a decent supply of guesthouses and self-catering around the Mall and the cathedrals.
Where to stay in Armagh
- Charlemont Arms Hotel. On English Street, family run, and walkable to both cathedrals.
Not seeing anything that suits? Here is the full list of places to stay in Armagh.
If Armagh is full, Portadown, Banbridge and Newry are all within half an hour by road and considerably cheaper, and Belfast is 45 minutes if you would rather base yourself there and drive in for the day.
Is it worth going?
If you like a Christmas market you will have a good weekend. But the reason to pick this one over the dozens of others on that weekend is that the setting is not decoration. The courthouse where the mock trials happen is a real Georgian courthouse. The gaol is a real gaol. The library where the interpreters stand is the library the man actually built, and his books are on the shelves.
Most heritage festivals dress a place up as something it was not. Armagh is one of the few that just turns the lights on.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Armagh Georgian Festival 2026?
Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 November 2026. Four days, across the city centre.
Is the Armagh Georgian Festival free?
Much of it is. The artisan market is free to wander, and so is the Georgian light show at the Market House. The banquet, the mock trials, the gaol tours and the wedding breakfast are ticketed and book through TicketSolve via the Visit Armagh site.
What is the best free thing at the Armagh Georgian Festival?
Armagh Robinson Library on Abbey Street, which opens specially for the festival and costs nothing. Saturday 28 November noon to 5pm and Sunday 29 November 2pm to 5pm, drop in, no booking. Staff bring out parts of the collection and talk you through it, with Georgian living history interpreters in the building.
How do you get to Armagh?
There is no railway station, which surprises people. It is about 45 minutes from Belfast by road, an hour and a half from Dublin and about an hour and three quarters from Derry. There are buses from Belfast, but for a weekend where you also want Navan Fort and the orchards, a car is the honest answer.
Where should you stay for the Armagh Georgian Festival?
In the city if you can, but book early, because Armagh is small and this is its busiest weekend of the year. If the city is full, Portadown, Banbridge and Newry are all within half an hour.
What should you wear to the Armagh Georgian Festival?
It is the end of November in Ireland, so a waterproof coat and proper shoes. The light goes at about four o’clock, which does the light show a considerable favour.
Plan the rest of your trip
The festival sits right at the turn of the season. Northern Ireland in November covers the rest of that month, including the Foyle Film Festival in Derry and when the Belfast Christmas Market opens, and Northern Ireland in December takes it on into the markets and the winter coast.
I have written a full guide to things to do in Northern Ireland, including Armagh, the Causeway Coast and Derry. And if you are thinking about the north earlier in the season, Halloween in Northern Ireland is the other event worth planning a trip around.
Browse tours and tickets in Armagh
If you are making a longer trip of it, Armagh is about two hours from Donegal, and I have written up things to do in Donegal and the Inishowen peninsula separately.
Some links in this guide are affiliate links. If you book through one I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I only link to things I would use myself. Festival dates and programme details are as published by Visit Armagh at the time of writing and are worth confirming before you travel.
One trip, two jurisdictions. Euro on one side, sterling on the other, and a few things worth knowing before you drive across. See the Irish border guide.
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Written by
Diana Greenlee
I live in County Down and write Tales of Irish Travel. After years living abroad I came home during Covid and started properly exploring the island. I write about the history and the story behind a place, not just the place. More about me.