Viewers of family favourite Antiques Road Trip got to see Armagh placed well and truly on the map this week as host and co dropped in for a visit!
If you’re looking something dated well there’s not much more dated than the Navan Centre and indeed Armagh in general, with its legends and traditions galore.
And happy to explain some of those stories of which we are so proud was Réamonn Ó Ciaráin, of Gael Linn, based in Armagh since the 1950s.
For a segment for the show, he spoke to a captivated host David Harper at the ancient pre-Christian seat of the Kings of Ulster.
Indeed, David was so taken with Armagh – and Navan in particular – that he did not want to leave and even tweeted later to say it was ‘a day I will never forget’.
The episode was actually filmed last March, also taking in D Patterson Antiques in Lurgan (pictured below), as well as Moy Antiques.
But it got its first showing on BBC 1 on Tuesday afternoon.
The show – which attracts a huge audience and has even spawned celebrity specials – sees experts travel all over the UK in search of antiques to see who can realise the most money at auction.
An authority on the area’s history is Réamonn Ó Ciaráin; he has written three books on Cúchulainn and in the year of its publication the Irish Times listed ‘Cúchulainn, Ulster’s Greatest Hero’ in their top five Irish related books.
He was delighted that the Antiques Road Trip team came to visit and fell in love with what they saw and heard.
Réamonn told Armagh I : “They made contact directly with Navan Centre and spent three quarters of a day filming, which was condensed into under five minutes.
“Not everything could be included sadly.
“After Navan Fort they travelled on to Moy where they listened to traditional music and purchased some antiques.
“The special sense of magic at Navan led to all being very relaxed and presenter David Harper was delighted at being allowed to join Armagh Rhymers for the day.
“The crew and presenter were very friendly and consummate professionals.
“Antiques Road Trip has a huge viewership and is broadcast on BBC One daytime with repeats.
“One local lady was surprised but delighted to see Navan Fort on the screen during a dawn visit to her gym!
“Navan Fort itself was undoubtedly the star of the show on what was a beautiful spring day.”
If you can’t wait in hope of catching a repeat, you can check the Armagh-related episode on the BBC iPlayer here.
