Heritage Grants
Cathedral
Armagh Public (Robinson) Library
£190000
Armagh Public Library is a Grade A listed building and one of the city’s key tourist attractions. It houses regionally and nationally important collections of books, manuscripts, prints and coins.
This grant funded the conservation of the library's books for future generations, improved storage for the collections, and refurbishment of the building itself.
The library was founded in 1711 by the Archbishop of Armagh. The library’s collection of books is still held in the original building and includes two copies of Gulliver’s Travels with Swift’s own handwritten amendments.
After carrying out a condition survey on the book collection, some were identified as having ‘major damage’. This project focused on repairing and rebinding those books and protecting the collections in special made-to-measure boxes, portfolios and cases.