Armagh, District (pop., 2001: 54,263), Northern Ireland. Formerly part of County Armagh, the district was established in 1973. It lies south of Lough Neagh. The northern part of the district is the island’s main fruit-growing region; the southern part, along the Irish border, was a hotbed of sectarian violence through the late 20th century. The district seat is Armagh town. According to tradition, St. Patrick established his principal Irish church here in the 5th century. The area was the leading intellectual centre of the Western world in the 5th–9th centuries. Taken by English Protestant forces in the 16th century, Armagh became a prosperous centre for Protestant clergy and gentry, a circumstance reflected in its many Georgian monuments and buildings.
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