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The County Louth
County Louth (Contae Lú in Irish) is a county on the east coast of Ireland in the province of Leinster. Before 1596, it was considered part of the province of Ulster. The county takes its name from the village of Louth (Lughbhadh in Irish, referring to the Celtic god Lugh). The county town of Louth is Dundalk. The majority of the county's population live either in Dundalk or in the town of Drogheda.
County Louth is the smallest County in Ireland, also known as "the Wee County". At present it is on the border with Northern Ireland so is heavily influenced by the present political situation with regard to that.
This is a county steeped in myth, legend and history, going back to the pre-historical days of the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid ofCooley see Cúchulainn). Later it saw the influence of the Vikings as seen in the name of Carlingford Lough.
The kingdom of Airgelia or Oriel in English, established in the 4th century and comprising Louth, Monaghan, and Armagh, was conquered by Anglo-Norman invaders, and in 1185 Prince John annexed the barony of Louth to the English crown. Under Richard II, late in the 14th century, Louth was included in the English Pale. The towns of Drogheda and Dundalk became important, and parliaments were sometimes held in them. In Tudor times (16th century) Dundalk was often a marshalling place for armies that advanced north into Ulster through the Gap of the North.
Notable relics of the monastic period of the Celtic Church are in Mellifont and Monasterboice; castles of the Anglo-Norman era are relatively numerous.
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.
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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.
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Some areas of interest near the Hoy's ancestral area of County Louth |
| Dromiskin (Irish: Droim Ineasclainn which roughly means "the hill at the spring of the water") is a village in County Louth, Ireland. It is situated 10km south of Dundalk, about 1km inland from the Irish Sea coast, and is located in one of Louth's most historical areas.
The village was has home to a monastery for hundreds of years, once visited by Saint Patrick. This site for the monastery was picked as it is a local high point; it is also where a round tower was built and still remains. From the tower there is a view of all of Dundalk Bay and the surrounding countryside. Dromiskin was also served as the home to the Archbishops of Armagh for a time.
The village is part of the Darver parish, Darver being a neighbouring village. The parish is bounded by the Fane River on the north and by the Glyde River on the south.
Dromiskin round Tower
The church is alleged to have been founded by St. Patrick, but it is more likely that it was his disciple Lughaidh (died 515-16) who founded the monastery. St. Ronan, who cursed Suibhne Geilt and caused him to go mad, was abbot here and died of the great plague in 664. The High King, Aedh Finnlaigh, died here in 876. The monastery was plundered by the Irish in 908, by the Danes in 978 and again by the Irish in 1043. The Round Tower and a High Cross still survive from the old monastery. The round Tower and a High Cross still survive from the old monastery. The Round Tower, which is 55 feet high, has a round-headed doorway which originally has columns supporting the arch. The two rectangular windows at the top as well as the conical roof are modern, dating to 1879. To the east of the tower are the remnants of a High Cross which has been re-erected in modern times on a granite base and shaft. There is a Celtic whirl on the west face of the cross. The east face has a central square panel at the intersection with a knot out of which grow beasts who devour others; to the left is a hunting scene, to the right a scene perhaps of David bringing the head of Goliath to Jerusalem. Nearby are the remains of what was probably a medieval parish church. The east gable of the church probably dates to the 13th century; the present 2 light east window was inserted in the 15th century into the earlier 3-light window. |
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Cuchulainn's Stone, Knockbridge, Co. Louth
This stone is called Cuchulainn's stone and is located in a field just outside Knockbridge in Co. Louth. Cuchulainn mortally wounded strapped himself against this stone as he was dying so that his enemies might think he was still alive. Only when a raven (The Morrigan) landed on his shoulder did they know that Cuchulainn was dead.
Knockbridge is located 4 miles north of Darver. |
Ardee (Baile Átha Fhirdhia in Irish) is a town in County Louth, Ireland. It is located at the intersection of the N2, N52, and N33 roads. Ardee is on the banks of the River Dee and is approximately 12 miles from Dundalk and 5 miles from Darver.
Originally called Atherdee, its name is derived Áth Fhirdia (the Ford of the Ferdia), from the mythological four day battle between Cúchulainn and Ferdia, for the defence of Ulster from Queen Maeve of Connacht. Ferdia fell after 4 days of battle and is buried on the southern banks of the river alongside the Riverside Walk. Ardee is a town of great historical interest, Ardee Castle (St. Leger's) is the largest fortified medieval tower house in Ireland and perhaps in Europe.
The river Dee was the northern border of The Pale in medieval times.
Another item of interest worth visiting is the "Jumping Church" which is located about 3 miles outside the town. Legend has it that a non-Christian was buried inside the Church walls and that later that night, the Church jumped so as to leave his remains outside of the scared ground.
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Louth Village (Irish: Lú) lies in the heart of County Louth, Ireland, roughly 8km south-west from the town of Dundalk and 10km north-west from Darver.
The county takes its name from the village, which was once an important town and the home of the O'Carrolls who ruled Louth.
It is home to the St Mochtas House, which according to legend was built in a night by fairies for St Mochtas, circa 500AD, and St Mary's Abbey, a 12th century monastry, which now lies in ruins.
Until early in the 21st century, the village was also home to the last remnants of St John's Abbey. The last standing portion of the walls of the monastry, a 12ft high, four foot wide piece known locally as The Pinnacle suddenly collapsed overnight.
At the heart of the village is the Church of the Immaculate Conception, which was built in 1892, and sits atop a hill overlooking the village and surrounding area. It was destroyed in 2003 by an accidental fire, started during renovation work, leaving only the exterior walls and spire standing. In early 2006, it reopened with the exterior virtually identical to how it was, but with a modern style interior. |
Some sites in the rest of County Louth |
Old Mellifont Abbey
In the tranquil valley of the River Mattock, a subsidiary of the Boyne, lie the noble ruins of Mellifont, the first Cistercian monastery to be established in Ireland. Founded in 1142 by St. Malachy, the monastery was consecrated amidst great pomp and ceremony in 1157 at a great national synod attended by seventeen bishops and the High King. The new monastic order was successful in re-introducing discipline into what has become a very lax Irish Church. Over forty other Cistercian monasteries were opened in Ireland following the success of Mellifont. The monastery is also poignantly remembered in Irish history for a more tragic happening; it was here, following his defeat at the Battle of Kinsale, that the great Hugh O' Neil formally surrendered to Mountjoy in 1603, a surrender that marked the deathknell of the Gaelic civilisation which can be tracked back to centuries before the time of Christ. |
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Carlingford Castle
 King John's Castle: Allegedly founded by King John who stayed here for three days in 1210, the castle may have been begun some years previously by Hugh de Lacy. The semicircular western half of the castle was probably built before King John's visit. This curving wall, which enclosed an open courtyard, had two-storey buildings leaning against its inner face; the entrance, on the west side, was flanked by two rectangular towers (only parts of the northern tower remain) and at the south-western corner there is another rectangular tower. The high dividing wall, and the whole of the eastern half of the castle was added in 1261. Here there are tow floors above a basement (now largely filled up). There were a number of rooms on the ground floor; the entrance to this part of the castle was through a door in the first floor, and here was probably situated the great hall of the castle. In 1495 it was decreed that none by and Englishman should be Constable of the castle. Probably taken by Sir Henry Tichbourne in 1642, it was compelled to surrender to Lord Inchiquin in 1649. However in the following year it was delivered to sir. Charles Coote. |
In 1689. However in the following year it was delivered to sir Charles Coote. In 1689 it was fired upon by the retreating Jacobite forces, and General Schomberg later used it as a hospital. The Mint: Situated in a narrow street just off the Square, this is a 15th century town tower-house with an extended turret over the door. The exterior is remarkable in having mullioned windows which are decorated with some pre-Norman Celtic motifs such as interlacing, as well as a horse and a human head. The stonework has a number of decorative motifs pocked on it. there are three storeys in all, none of which has a fireplace. it is said to have been the site of a mint which was set up in 1467.
Further down the street is an old town gate, above which is a small room. The Thosel, where the elders of the town met. Dominican Priory: South of the town lies the Dominican priory dedicated to St. Malachy of Armagh, and said to have been founded by Richard de Burgo, Earl of Ulster in 1305. A stone head carved on the exterior east window may be of 13th or 14th century date. But, while blocking or absence of other windows makes dating difficult, much of the surviving structure may be the result of work carried out after 1423, when an indulgence was granted for repairs to the church 'after damage by enemies and robbers'. A gap in the east wall, underneath the window, now gives access to the tall, slender preachers' church which is divided almost in the middle by a 15th century tower. The western end is fortified with turrets at the top corners and a bartizan high above the door, from which to drop things on unwanted intruders. Lying to the south are the remains of two-storey claustral buildings. |
Dun Dealgan Motte and Bailey
Although the site is associated with the legendary hero CuChulainn, the present earthworks are a Norman motte and bailey built possibly by the de Verdons in the last 30 years of the 12th century. The walls of the square bailey are well preserved. The castle on top is a folly built by Patrick Byrne - a well-known pirate - in 1780, and as a wooden tower once crowned the motte, the tower gives some of what a motte with a tower must have originally looked like.
Dun Dealgan is the Irish for Dundalk which is the main town in he county. This site is located just outside of the present town. |
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Proleek dolmen
A splendid 'tripod-dolmen', 12 feet in height, standing at the edge of a field near a ruined gallery-tomb. It is reached by a signposted path from the grounds of Ballymascanlon Hotel. It has long been called 'The Giant's Load' since, from a certain viewpoint, it resembles a huge figure bowed under the weight of a heavy burden - in this case a rounded granite capstone weighing in excess of 30 tons. This well known landmark has often been illustrated. As early as 1742 an engraving of it appeared in Thomas Wright's Louthiana, wherein he states that 'the native Irish tell a strange story about it, relating how the whole was brought all at once from the neighbouring mountains, by a giant called Parrah Boug M'Shagjean, and who they say was buried near this place.' Unlike other antiquarians of his day, Wright recognised the sepulchral purpose of these monuments and dismissed as fantasy the idea that they were Druid's alters. Visitors to Proleek will notice that the top of the capstone is dotted with pebbles; throw one up, runs the legend, and if it remains on the convex surface the person who cast it will marry before a year has elapsed. |
Monasterboice
Though little more than half a mile to the west of the busy Dublin road, there is an air of detachment and antiquity about this celebrated place. The monastery came into existence in the sixth century but little is known of its founder, St Buite. Its fame rests chiefly on its exquisitely sculptured High Crosses, notably the South Cross, now generally called Muiredach's Cross after an abbot whose name is inscribed on the base. The cross is remarkable for the variety and organisation of its scriptural themes and the superb quality of the carving, executed in the early decades of the tenth century. Not far away, beside the Round Tower (now capless but still over 90 feet high), is the slender and beautiful West Cross, alias the Tall Cross, from its exceptional height of 21 feet. it has suffered from weathering and not all of its panels are identifiable. In another corner of the graveyard, partly obscured by trees and sometimes missed by visitors, is the North Cross. Though not as elaborate as the other two it is nevertheless a fine specimen, decorated with unusual spiral motifs. A handsome sundial stone stands alongside. Other remains here include two featureless churches. |
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