South Meridian Marker

In the townland of Ballyheridan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, a carved stone pillar known as the South Meridian Marker still points due south, a two-century-old alignment aid for the astronomical instruments of nearby Armagh Observatory.

About South Meridian Marker

The marker is a neo-classical stone pier set on a substantial base of random rubble, its rectangular shaft wrapped in a carved band decorated with four eight-pointed stars marking the cardinal directions. Carved stone pyramids at each corner point northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest, a design built purely to help align astronomical instruments rather than to be looked through itself.

History

The marker is linked to Armagh Observatory, founded in 1790 by the Church of Ireland Archbishop Richard Robinson, and served as a fixed reference point for calibrating the observatory's telescopes and meridian instruments. It stands near Armagh Golf Course, close to the Newtownhamilton Road and the southern edge of the former palace grounds, and is now a scheduled monument with protected heritage status.

Location & getting there

The marker is located in the townland of Ballyheridan on the outskirts of Armagh, Northern Ireland, within easy reach of Armagh Observatory.

Visiting South Meridian Marker

As a scheduled heritage monument rather than a staffed visitor attraction, the South Meridian Marker has no published opening hours of its own; anyone hoping to see it should check with Armagh Observatory and Planetarium before visiting.

See your named star from here

Armagh's meridian markers were built to help point historic telescopes with precision, and every star named through star-register.eu comes with exactly that kind of precision: real right ascension and declination coordinates that any properly aligned telescope can find. Explore our star catalogue or choose a naming package to name a star of your own.