Christmas Day Broadcast with the Archbishops of Armagh

Thursday December 19th 2024

Archbishops Eamon Martin and John McDowell with children from Armstrong Primary School and St Patrick’s Primary School enjoying an interactive display at Armagh Planetarium. Photo: Tony Hudson (RTÉ).

This year’s Christmas message from the Archbishops of Armagh, which was filmed in Armagh Observatory and Planetarium and draws on the theme of the Christmas Star, will be broadcast on Christmas Day at 12.10pm on RTÉ One television and 1.05pm on RTÉ Radio One. The programme will also be available after broadcast on the RTÉ Player.

The message will be accompanied by carol signing by a choir from Armstrong Primary School and St Patrick’s Primary School and interviews with Professor Michael Burton (Director of the Observatory and Planetarium) and other astronomers who are based in the ecclesiastical capital.

Armagh Observatory, one of Ireland’s leading centres for astronomical research and education, was founded in 1790 by Archbishop Richard Robinson, and its outreach work to schools and the wider community was greatly enabled by the opening of the Planetarium in 1968 under the leadership of then Director, Dr Eric Lindsay. Three of the oldest Observatories in the world are to be found in Ireland – in Armagh, at Dunsink and in Birr, and they are part of a unique North-South partnership of Astronomical Observatories.

To find out more about the Observatory and Planetarium, please visit its website – www.armagh.space – or its social media channels @armaghplanet