Ireland was home to the world’s largest telescope during its “Golden Age” and County Armagh remains home to the oldest planetarium in the British Isles. Michael O’Shea explores astronomy's incredible history with the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. Matthew McMahon is the Museum Collections Officer at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium in Northern Ireland.
I spoke to Matthew to find out how and why Ireland, despite its famously rainy weather, had the world's most powerful telescopes for almost a century during its “Golden Age", and why Armagh , famous for its cathedrals, has been a center for astronomy research and education from the late 18th century onward. I also learned how the interests and influence of the Anglo-Irish came to bear on astronomy during time, and how the Famine did — and didn’t — impact — the construction of mammoth telescopes. What’s special about the Armagh Planetarium? The Planetarium in Armagh is the oldest, continuously operational planetarium in the British Isles.
It's been operational since it opened in 1968. The founder of the planetarium, Dr. Lindsay, was very struck by the fact that if he wanted to get people interested in astronomy first, he would need a planetarium, given that the reliability of actually getting a view of the stars through a telescope in Northern Ireland is limited.
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