Observatory is set at the Armagh Observatory and Museum for Astronomy and Natural Philosophy, in both 1799 and 1999. Historian Jon McKenna, hired to compile a computerised catalogue of the Observatory archives, finds his life becoming entangled with that of Nicola McLoughlin, assistant astronomer at the Observatory. Together they work to uncover the two-hundred-year-old story of astronomer Archibald Hamilton and his assistant Robert Hogg - man of science, man of God, and revolutionary. The Observatory, a symbol of both science and religion, becomes the setting for a powerful exploration of nationhood and revolution, love and betrayal.

"The writing is inspired, deceptively subtle behind its up-front bile and cracked humour" (Guardian)