A new hotel development on land formally owned by Armagh Rugby club began in June 2000. The wooded area had been known from the 1830's as Lady Anne's walk after the sister of a former archbishop of Armagh. Although it wasn't maintained as a public park it was a favorite walk and gave the city a secluded wooded area right in it's midst. It was hoped that many of the trees would be spared the chain saw and bulldozer during the development but the complete and devastating way in which the site was cleared left us in no doubt that there would be no sympathy for this little piece of quiet and green.

As well as being an undisturbed island in Armagh's ever increasing urban developments it is situated beside the remains of a 13th century friary, which up until the 1760's extended it's precincts over many acres. As the bulldozers scoured the site, the authorities who pride themselves in preserving the old abbey walls were conspicuous by their absence. It was a curious fact that no attempt was made to record or investigate the site as it was cleared. When the nearby ring road was being constructed in the 1960's it was deliberately routed so as to avoid the potentially archaeologically rich piece of ground.

Take a look at some more images of the site as it develops.

The area being developed is one steeped in history. From the Eighteenth century Lady Ann's walk, to the thirteenth century friary. However before any of these, there was an older site here that has probably been venerated from pre-Christian times.

Saint Bridget's well is a natural spring that has been the a place of pilgrimage for those who venerate the saint for hundreds of years. The water from the well is said to have many curative properties especially for ailments of the eye. Even this ancient monument it seems, isn't immune from the bulldozers, in August a visit to the well revealed that an ominous wall of sticky red clay and soil had been pushed from the building site to within feet of the the well. The well has been so neglected recently that if a digger driver were to bury it he would probably fail to notice the well.