Northern Ireland

King Charles meets church leaders at Armagh Cathedral service

King Charles pictured at St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh, where he attended a religious service and met church leaders. Picture by Brian Lawless/PA Wire
King Charles pictured at St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh, where he attended a religious service and met church leaders. Picture by Brian Lawless/PA Wire King Charles pictured at St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh, where he attended a religious service and met church leaders. Picture by Brian Lawless/PA Wire

King Charles has met religious leaders in Armagh as part of his two-day visit to the north.

The British monarch attended a service at St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral on Thursday.

He met with leaders including head of the Catholic church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, who gave a reading at the multi-denominational service.

Archbishop Martin made history earlier this month when he became the first Irish Catholic bishop to attend the coronation of British monarch since the Reformation era.

Last year he made another historic first by attending the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth.

Also in attendance at Thursday's service was head of the Church of Ireland, Rev John McDowell.

While King Charles attended the service, Queen Camilla paid a visit to the Armagh Robinson Library and Museum, where she met local schoolchildren and volunteers from the Dementia NI charity.

The royal couple also held a walkabout in Armagh city centre, meeting wellwishers, before they later departed by helicopter for appointments in Co Fermanagh.

In Enniskillen, King Charles also met with representatives of churches in the region, including Catholic priest Fr Brian D'Arcy.

Fr D'Arcy said locals showed off the county "as best we can", highlighting the "cross-community co-operation between churches".