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County Louth
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County Louth is a county on the east coast of Ireland, on the border with Northern Ireland. The county town is Dundalk.
County Louth is affectionately called "the Wee County" being the smallest county in Ireland having a total area of only 821sq kilometres (317sq miles).
Origin of name
The original Irish name of the county Lughbhaidh comes from the place of worship of the Celtic pagan god whose festival was celebrated at .
The names for both county and village are now spelled as An Lú.
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Encyclopedia
County Louth is a county on the east coast of Ireland, on the border with Northern Ireland. The county town is Dundalk.
County Louth is affectionately called "the Wee County" being the smallest county in Ireland having a total area of only 821sq kilometres (317sq miles).
Origin of name
The original Irish name of the county Lughbhaidh comes from the place of worship of the Celtic pagan god whose festival was celebrated at .
The names for both county and village are now spelled as An Lú. This is merely a modern standardised rendering of the older Lughbhaidh. The name has nothing to do with the comparative/superlative form lú meaning smaller or smallest of the adjective beag.
History
This is a county steeped in myth, legend and history, going back to the pre-historical days of the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cooley Cattle Raid, see Cúchulainn). Later it saw the influence of the Vikings as seen in the name of Carlingford Lough.
There are a number of historic sites in the county, including religious sites at Monasterboice and Mellifont Abbey
In the early fourteenth century the Scottish army of Edward Bruce (brother of Robert of Bannockburn fame) was defeated in the battle of Faughart near Dundalk, Edward losing not only his claim to the High Kingship Of Ireland, but also his life. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries featured many skirmishes and battles involving Irish and English forces. Oliver Cromwell attacked Drogheda in 1649 slaughtering the Royalist garrison (Siege of Drogheda).
Towards the end of the same century the armies of the warring Kings, James and William, faced off in North Louth during the build-up to the Battle of the Boyne - the battle takes its name from the river Boyne which reaches the sea at Drogheda.
In 1798 the leaders of the United Irishmen included Bartholomew Teeling, John Byrne and Patrick Byrne, all from Castletown; Anthony McCann from Corderry; Nicholas and Thomas Markey from Barmeath , Arthur McKeown, John Warren and James McAllister from Cambricville. They were betrayed by informers, notably a Dr. Conlan, who came from Dundalk, and an agent provocateur called Sam Turner, from Newry. Several of the leaders were hanged.
In 1816 the Wildgoose Lodge Murders took place in the west of the county.
The priest and scientist Nicholas Joseph Callan (1799–1864), from Darver, was a famous son of the county.
Notable settlements in County Louth
Towns
Villages
Demographics
The majority of the county's population live in either Dundalk (2006 pop. 29,037) in north Louth, or Drogheda (2006 pop. 28,973) in the south. The 2006 Census confirmed Dundalk and Drogheda as not only the largest towns in the county, but also the second and third largest towns in Ireland.
Within legally defined boundaries Dundalk has the larger population, however the total population(including suburbs or environs) is greater in Drogheda, this includes areas and suburbs of Drogheda which lie in County Meath.
Data taken from the 2006 Census:
| Town | Total population
including suburbs or environs | Population
within legally defined boundary | Population
of suburbs or environs |
|---|
| Drogheda | 35,090 | 28,973 | 6,117 | | Dundalk | 35,085 | 29,037 | 6,048 | | Ardee | 4,694 | 4,301 | 393 | | Dunleer | 1,449 | | | | Greenore | 979 | | |
See also
External links
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