Armagh Public Library

The Greek inscription above the main entrance to Armagh Public Library, founded in 1771 by Archbishop Robinson, means 'the medicine shop of the soul'. Step inside and you'd swear that the archbishop had just swept out of the door, leaving you to browse among his personal collection of 17th- and 18th-century books, maps and engravings.

The library's most prized possession is a first edition of Gulliver's Travels, published in 1726 and annotated by none other than Swift himself. It was stolen in an armed robbery in 1999, but was recovered, undamaged, in Dublin 20 months later.

Other treasures of the library include Sir Walter Raleigh's 1614 History of the World, the Claims of the Innocents (pleas to Oliver Cromwell) and a large collection of engravings by Hogarth and others.