County Louth (/lð/ LOWDH;[4] Irish: Contae Lú)[5] is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the north-east, across Carlingford Lough. It is the smallest county in Ireland by land area and the 17th most populous, with just over 139,100 residents as of 2022.[3] The county is named after the village of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county.[6]

County Louth
Contae Lú
Coat of arms of County Louth
Nickname: 
The Wee County
Motto(s): 
Lugh sáimh-ioldánach (Irish)
"Lugh equally skilled in many arts"
Location of County Louth
CountryIreland
ProvinceLeinster
RegionEastern and Midland
Established1210[1][2]
County townDundalk
Largest settlementDundalk
Government
 • Local authorityLouth County Council
 • Dáil constituencyLouth
 • EP constituencyMidlands–North-West
Area
 • Total
826 km2 (319 sq mi)
 • Rank32nd
Highest elevation589 m (1,932 ft)
Population
 • Total
139,100
 • Rank17th
 • Density170/km2 (440/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC±0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (IST)
Eircode routing keys
A91, A92 (primarily)
Telephone area codes041, 042 (primarily)
ISO 3166 codeIE-LH
Vehicle index
mark code
LH
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata
Map

History

edit
 
Baronies of Louth

County Louth is named after the village of Louth, which in turn is named after Lugh, a god of the ancient Irish. Historically, the placename has had various spellings; Lugmad, Lughmhaigh, and Lughmhadh (see Historic Names List, for full listing). is the modern simplified spelling.

The county is steeped in myth, legend and history, and is a setting in the Táin Bó Cúailnge epic. Later it saw the influence of the Vikings, as seen in the name of Carlingford Lough. They also established a longphort at Annagassan in the ninth century. At this time Louth consisted of three sub-kingdoms, each subject to separate over-kingdoms: Conaille (Ulaidh); Fir Rois (Airgialla); and, the Fir Arda Ciannachta (Midhe). The whole area became part of the O'Carroll Kingdom of Airgíalla (Oriel) early in the 12th century under Donnchad Ua Cerbaill. At the same time, the area was removed from the diocese of Armagh and the episcopal see of the Diocese of Airgíalla or Clogher was transferred to Louth c. 1130–1190.

A number of historic sites are in the county, including religious sites at Monasterboice, Mellifont Abbey and the St Mary Magdalene Dominican Friary.

The Normans occupied the Louth area in the 1180s, forming the County of Oriel (Uriel or Vriell) out of the O'Carroll kingdom. At this time the western boundary of occupation was unfixed and Monaghan was still considered part of Oriel. However, over time, Louth became differentiated as 'English' Oriel, to distinguish it from the remainder ('Irish' Oriel), outside the control of the Norman colony, which had passed into the hands of the McMahon lordship of Airgíalla.

In the early 14th century Edward Bruce made claim to the High Kingship of Ireland and led an expeditionary force to Ireland. The Scottish army was repulsed from Drogheda but laid waste to much of the Anglo-Norman colony of Ireland including Ardee and Dundalk. Edward was crowned on the hill of Maledon near Dundalk on 2 May 1316. His army was finally defeated and Edward was killed in the Battle of Faughart near Dundalk, by a chiefly local force led by John de Bermingham. He was created 1st Earl of Louth and granted estates at Ardee on 12 May 1319 as a reward for his services to the Crown in defeating the Scots. De Bermingham was subsequently killed in the Braganstown massacre on 13 June 1329 along with some 200 members of his family and household, in a feud between the Anglo-Irish families of Louth.

One of the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1465 (5 Ed. IV, cap. 3) stated "That every Irishman that dwell betwixt or amongst Englishmen in the County of Dublin, Myeth, Vriell [i.e. Oriel], and Kildare ... shall take to him an English surname of one town, as Sutton, Chester, Trym, Skryne, Corke, Kinsale; or colour, as white, blacke, browne; or arte or science, as smith or carpenter; or office, as cooke, butler ...". This was an attempt to compel Irish families in the Pale, including Louth, to adopt English surnames.

In 1189, a royal charter was granted to Dundalk after a Norman nobleman named Bertram de Verdun erected a manor house at Castletown Mount. Bertram's granddaughter Roesia de Verdun later built Castle Roche in 1236. In 1412, a royal charter was granted to Drogheda which unified the towns of Drogheda-in-Meath and Drogheda-in-Uriel (Louth) as a County in its own right, styled as 'the County of the town of Drogheda'.[7] Drogheda continued as a County Borough until the setting up of County Councils, through the enactment of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, which saw all of Drogheda, including a large area south of the River Boyne, become part of an extended County Louth.[7][8][9]

Until the late 16th century, 1596, Louth was considered part of Ulster, before becoming part of Leinster after a conference held at Faughart between the Chiefs of Ulster (Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone and Hugh Roe O'Donnell), on the Irish side, and the Ulster-born Miler Magrath, Anglican Archbishop of Cashel, and Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond on that of the English. The lands of Ballymascanlan, part of the former estates of Mellifont Abbey, were transferred from Armagh to Louth c. 1630.[10]

The 16th and 17th centuries featured many skirmishes and battles involving Irish and English forces, as Louth was on the main route to 'the Moiry Pass' and the Ulster areas often in rebellion and as yet uncolonised. Oliver Cromwell attacked Drogheda in 1649 slaughtering the Royalist garrison and hundreds of the town's citizens. Towards the end of the same century, the armies of the warring Kings, James II and William (III) of Orange, faced off in south Louth during the build-up to the Battle of the Boyne; the battle was fought 3 km (1.9 miles) west from Drogheda. Drogheda held for James under Lord Iveagh but surrendered to William the day after the battle of the Boyne.[citation needed]

In 1798, the leaders of the United Irishmen included Bartholomew Teeling, John Byrne, and Patrick Byrne, all from Castletown; Anthony Marmion from Louth Town and Dundalk, Anthony McCann from Corderry; Nicholas and Thomas Markey from Barmeath, and 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 leaders were hanged.

The Burning of Wildgoose Lodge took place on the night of 29–30 October 1816, for which 18 men were executed.

The priest and scientist Nicholas Callan (1799–1864), inventor of the first induction coil, was from Darver.

Geography

edit

Louth, colloquially known as "The Wee County", is the smallest of Ireland's 32 counties by area. It is the 17th most populous county, making it the fourth most densely populated county on the island of Ireland. It is the smallest of Leinster's 12 counties in size and the 6th-largest by population. Louth is bordered by four counties – Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north, and Down to the northeast. It bounded to the east by the Irish Sea. Dundalk is the county town and is located approximately 80 km (50 mi) from Belfast and 85 km (53 mi) from Dublin. Louth is also the northernmost county in Leinster, and the only county in the province to share a border with Northern Ireland.

Climate

edit
 
Winter snow at Slieve Foy

Louth has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb), with cool humid summers and mild winters, strongly influenced by Atlantic ocean currents. Coastal areas generally experience milder winters and cooler, windier summers than inland areas. Daytime highs are generally in the 18–23 °C (64–73 °F) range throughout the county in July, with overnight lows in the 10–14 °C (50–57 °F) range. January and February are the coldest months, with average daily minimum temperatures typically falling below 2 °C (36 °F).

 
Summer meadow in Johnstown

Met Éireann records climate data for the county from their station at Boharnamoe, ca. 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from Ardee, in the southwest of the county. The county's record high temperature is 30.9 °C (87.6 °F), set on 12 July 1983. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Louth was on 1 January 1979, when the temperature at Ardee fell to −15.2 °C (4.6 °F). Due to the moderating influence of the Irish sea, the temperature at Ardee has only surpassed 30 °C (86 °F) once since records began in 1968. Prolonged or heavy snow is rare, but most of the county will typically experience snowfall on a few days per year.

Precipitation is evenly distributed year-round, with only about 30 mm (1.2 in) of rainfall separating the wettest months (October and November) from the driest months (March and April). There are a number of synoptic weather stations which solely record rainfall located throughout the county. The driest areas are located along the coast, with average annual rainfall at Clogherhead being 735 mm (28.9 in), making it one of the driest locations on the island of Ireland. The wettest areas of the county are located around the Cooley Mountains, with the stations at Omeath (1,118 mm (44.0 in)) and Glenmore (1,203 mm (47.4 in)) recording the most rainfall in the county.

The coastal areas of the county are particularly vulnerable to flooding and storm surges during the Winter months, and significant flood defences have been constructed along Dundalk Bay. Louth County Council's Climate Change Adaptation Strategy identified coastal and riverine flooding as the primary environmental risks to the county.

Climate data for Ardee (1989–2019, extremes 1968–present), 31 mAOD
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 14.7
(58.5)
16.7
(62.1)
21.5
(70.7)
22.1
(71.8)
27.2
(81.0)
29.4
(84.9)
30.9
(87.6)
29.5
(85.1)
27.1
(80.8)
20.7
(69.3)
17.6
(63.7)
16.1
(61.0)
30.9
(87.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 8.3
(46.9)
8.9
(48.0)
10.7
(51.3)
13.3
(55.9)
16.1
(61.0)
19.0
(66.2)
20.6
(69.1)
20.2
(68.4)
18.1
(64.6)
14.5
(58.1)
10.9
(51.6)
8.6
(47.5)
14.1
(57.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 1.9
(35.4)
1.7
(35.1)
2.5
(36.5)
4.2
(39.6)
6.6
(43.9)
9.6
(49.3)
11.4
(52.5)
11.0
(51.8)
9.2
(48.6)
6.2
(43.2)
3.7
(38.7)
2.0
(35.6)
5.8
(42.5)
Record low °C (°F) −15.2
(4.6)
−11.1
(12.0)
−8.4
(16.9)
−5.4
(22.3)
−3.2
(26.2)
−1.5
(29.3)
1.0
(33.8)
−1.1
(30.0)
−3.5
(25.7)
−5.5
(22.1)
−8.2
(17.2)
−11.8
(10.8)
−15.2
(4.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 74.0
(2.91)
57.8
(2.28)
54.1
(2.13)
53.8
(2.12)
61.5
(2.42)
66.2
(2.61)
67.0
(2.64)
70.3
(2.77)
63.3
(2.49)
84.4
(3.32)
86.7
(3.41)
76.1
(3.00)
815.2
(32.1)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 16 12 12 11 12 11 12 11 11 13 14 14 149
Source: Met Éireann[11]

Demographics

edit

Population

edit
 
Louth population density map (2016)

According to the Central Statistics Office, 139,703 people lived in County Louth as of the 2022 census, a 7.9% increase since the 2016 census. The population density of the county is 169.1 people per square kilometre, more than double the national average, which makes Louth the second most densely populated county in the Republic of Ireland, and the fourth most densely populated county on the island of Ireland. As of 2022, Louth was also the second most urbanised county in the State, with 69.7% of the county's population living within urban areas. Under Central Statistics Office (CSO) classification, an "urban area" is a town with a population greater than 1,500. As a result, much of the county outside of the larger towns is relatively sparsely populated, with most small areas (SAs) having a population density of between 20 and 50 people per km2.

The county has two dominant population centres, Dundalk, located in the north of the county, and Drogheda, located in the south on the border with County Meath. These two towns combined comprise approximately 58.9% of the county's total population, and are the 6th- and 7th-largest urban areas in Ireland respectively. Overall, Drogheda is the larger of the two.

2022 population by LEA[19]
LEA Population
Ardee 27,034
Drogheda Rural 19,845
Drogheda Rural 28,537
Dundalk–Carlingford 26,092
Dundalk South 38,195

Louth has experienced a rapid rate of population growth since the 1960s, nearly doubling in size in the fifty years between the census of 1966 and that of 2016. Its rate of growth (7.9%) since the 2016 census ranks 13th of 26 counties. The sizeable population growth in the county is influenced by its location along the Dublin–Belfast corridor; with the completion of the M1 motorway in particular driving the growth of Drogheda as a commuter town of Dublin. However, the northern areas of the county along the border with Northern Ireland have experienced a slight decline since 2011.[20]

In 2016, Louth surpassed its pre-famine (1841 Census) population, becoming one of only five counties in the State to do so. As of the 2022 census, 5.9 per cent of the county's population was reported as younger than 5 years old, 28.1 per cent were between 5 and 25, 51.8 per cent were between 25 and 65, and 14.2 per cent of the population was older than 65. Of this latter group, 4,591 people (3.3 per cent) were over the age of 80. The population was evenly split between females (50.68 per cent) and males (49.32 per cent).[21]

In 2021, there were 1,677 births within the county, and the average age of a first time mother was 30.5.[22]

Urban areas

edit

The most populous towns in Louth as of the 2022 census were (population in parentheses):

The most populous towns in Louth (2022)
Drogheda
(44,135)[a]
Dundalk
(43,112)
Ardee
(5,478)
Clogherhead
(2,275)
Dunleer
(2,143)
Termonfeckin
(1,983)
Tullyallen
(1,697)
Carlingford
(1,528)
Dromiskin
(1,292)
Castlebellingham
(1,232)
Collon
(864)
Omeath
(778)
Knockbridge
(759)
Louth
(717)
Tallanstown
(668)
Tinure
(530)

Ethnicity and migration

edit

As of the 2022 census, the population of County Louth was 85.9% white. Those who identified as White Irish constituted 76.7% of the county's population, and Irish Travellers comprised a further 0.7%. Caucasians who did not identify as ethnically Irish accounted for 8.5% of the population.[23]

The second largest ethnic group in Louth in 2022 was black, accounting for 3.3% of the population. Of this group, virtually the entire population lived in the two largest towns, with 56.5% of Louth's black residents living in Dundalk and 36.2% living in Drogheda.[24]

Those of Asian and Mixed Race backgrounds accounted for 2.7% (3,808 people) and 1.7% (2,333 people) of the population respectively, with the majority of these groups residing in either Drogheda or Dundalk. Around 9,000 people or 6.4% of the population did not state their ethnicity in 2022, a significant increase from 2.5% in the 2016 census.[25]

Louth ethnic composition of population
Racial Composition 2022 Census Percentage 2016 Census Percentage
White 119,101 85.9% 116,813 91.5%
Black 4,547 3.3% 3,567 2.8%
Asian 3,808 2.7% 2,399 1.9%
Others including mixed 2,333 1.7% 1,756 1.4%
Not stated 8,918 6.4% 3,176 2.5%

In contrast to the other counties in the Mid-East Region, which are characterised by widespread migration from the Dublin area, Louth has one of the highest proportions of native residents in Ireland. Around two-thirds (64.5%) of Louth's residents were born within the county, making it the 7th most indigenous county in the State. People from elsewhere in the Republic of Ireland accounted for just 13.9% of Louth's population in 2022, compared with 49.2% in neighbouring County Meath to the south. A total of 30,145 people (21.7%) were born outside of the country, up from 24,509 people (19.2%) in 2016.[26]

The largest foreign national groups by citizenship in Louth are: British (1.69%), Polish (1.50 percent), Lithuanian (1.40 percent), Nigerian (0.97 percent), Latvian (0.89 percent) and Romanian (0.57 percent).[27]

Irish language

edit

The Cooley Peninsula was the last Gaeltacht outpost in Leinster. Speakers of Irish existed around Omeath and into southern Armagh up until the middle of the 20th century. The area had its own local dialect, songs, poetry and traditional customs. The dialect, known as Gaeilge Oriel, is now extinct, as the last native speaker, Anne O'Hanlon, died in 1960 at the age of 89. However, extensive recordings of the dialect were made by German linguist Wilhelm Doegen for the Royal Irish Academy in 1928.[28] An Irish language college, Coláiste Bhríde, was originally established in Omeath in 1912, but later moved to Ranafast, County Donegal. In 2012, Coláiste Bhríde celebrated its 100th anniversary in Omeath, and locals were taught phrases in Gaeilge Oriel.

Uniquely, the Cooley Peninsula had a sizable population of Presbyterian Gaeilgeoirí in the late 18th and 19th centuries, owing to its proximity to Ulster. In 1808, Reverend William Neilson published "An introduction to the Irish language" to distribute to Presbyterian ministers in the area, as many in their congregations could not speak English.[29]

Despite its historic Gaeltacht, Louth has the lowest percentage of Irish speakers of any county in the State. Just 31.8% of the population stated that they could speak any level of Irish in the 2022 census.[30]

Religion

edit
 
St. Mochta's House, a 1,000-year-old oratory in Louth village
Religion in Louth (2022)
religion percent
Catholic
72.1%
No religion
11.9%
Other Christian
6.4%
Islam
1.6%
Other faith
0.9%
Not Stated
6.9%

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO),[31] the Catholic Church is by far the largest religious institution in County Louth, with 100,077 members. Orthodox Christianity was the second largest religious denomination, with 2,598 adherents. This was followed by Islam in third, with 2,281 adherents, and Anglican denominations including the Church of Ireland, England and Episcopalian in fourth, with 2,195.

The county is located within the archdiocese of Armagh in the Roman Catholic Church, and the Archbishop of Armagh has been recognised by the Vatican as the "Primate of All Ireland" since 1353. This was replicated in the Church of Ireland following the Reformation, and the Protestant Diocese of Armagh covers the same territorial extent as the Catholic diocese. Further, the Archbishop of Armagh also has the title of Primate of All Ireland within the Church of Ireland.

As was the case in much of Ireland, there was a significant increase in the number of people stating that they were either non-religious or atheist in the 2022 Census. This demographic has increased by 202% in a little over a decade (2011 to 2022), from 5,485 to 16,556. People with no religion now account for 11.9% of the county's population, up from 8% in 2016.

The fastest growing religions in the county between 2016 and 2022 were Hinduism (107%), Orthodox Christianity (80%) and Pantheism (78%), while the most rapidly declining religions were Lutheran (−23%), Evangelicalism (−19%), Buddhism (−13%) and Apostolic or Pentecostal (−11%). Although Catholicism only recorded a 4.3% decrease, the share of County Louth's residents who identified as Catholic fell sharply from 81.8% in 2016 to 72.1% in 2022.

Local government and politics

edit

Louth County Council

edit

The local authority is Louth County Council, which has its offices in Dundalk, and provides a number of services including planning, roads maintenance, fire brigade, council housing, water supply, waste collection, recycling and landfill, higher education grants and funding for arts and culture.[32]

As of the 2019 local election, Louth has been divided into five local electoral areas, whose councillors sit in three municipal districts: Ardee (which is also a municipal district), Drogheda Rural and Drogheda Rural (which form the borough district of Drogheda), and Dundalk—Carlingford and Dundalk South (which form the municipal district of Dundalk).[33][34][35]

Freedom of the county

edit

The following people have received the freedom of County Louth.

Louth Dáil constituency

edit

For elections to Dáil Éireann, Louth is represented by the five-seat Dáil constituency of Louth which takes all in the county of Louth, and in County Meath, the electoral divisions of Julianstown and part of St. Mary's.[37]

The Report on Dáil and European Parliament Constituencies 2007 outlined:

by extending the constituency southwards from, and in the environs of, Drogheda and taking in electoral divisions which have extensive linkages with the town. This will allow the inclusion of the town of Drogheda and hinterland areas in a single constituency.[38]

This brought the areas of the Greater Drogheda area in County Meath and their combined population of 20,375 into a single constituency.[39]

At the 2020 general election, the constituency elected two Sinn Féin TDs (nationalist and left-wing), one Fine Gael TD (centre-right), one Labour Party TD (centre-left) and an Independent TD (formerly Fine Gael).

Places of interest

edit

People

edit

Entertainment

edit

Military

edit

Politics

edit

Sport

edit

Misc

edit
edit

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Approximately 5,000 Drogheda residents are located within the boundaries of County Meath

References

edit
  1. ^ "Irish Chiefs and Clans in County Louth – Irish Pedigrees". www.libraryireland.com. Archived from the original on 22 June 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  2. ^ "County Louth, Ireland Genealogy Genealogy – FamilySearch Wiki". www.familysearch.org. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Census of Population 2022 – Preliminary Results". Central Statistics Office (Ireland). 23 June 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  4. ^ Pointon, Graham E. (1990). BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 154. ISBN 0-19-282745-6.
  5. ^ "Placenames Database of Ireland". Fiontar (DCU) and The Placenames Branch (Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht). 2008. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  6. ^ Section 2(1) of the Local Government Act, 2001, provides that the administrative area for which a county council is responsible is a county: http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/LocalGovernmentAdministration/RHLegislation/FileDownLoad,1963,en.pdf Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b Johnston, L. C. (1826). History of Drogheda: from the earliest period to the present time. Drogheda. p. 37. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  8. ^ D'Alton, John 1844, The History of Drogheda
  9. ^ "County Louth | Beautiful Ireland". Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  10. ^ p. 43, K. W. Nicholls, Map 45, A new history of Ireland IX: Maps, genealogies, lists. A companion to Irish History, Part II.
  11. ^ "Ardee 1989–2019 Averages, Extremes 1968–". Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Census 2016 Sapmap Area: County Louth". Central Statistics Office. 2016. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  13. ^ For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy 14 March 1865.
  14. ^ "Server Error 404 – CSO – Central Statistics Office". www.cso.ie. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  15. ^ "HISTPOP.ORG – Home". www.histpop.org. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016.
  16. ^ NISRA – Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (c) 2013 Archived 17 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Nisranew.nisra.gov.uk (27 September 2010). Retrieved on 2013-07-23.
  17. ^ Lee, J. J. (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. (eds.). Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
  18. ^ Mokyr, Joel; Ó Gráda, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850". The Economic History Review. 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x. hdl:10197/1406. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012.
  19. ^ "Census 2022 Profile 1 - Population Distribution and Movement F1016 - Population". CSO. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  20. ^ "Population Estimates". CSO. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  21. ^ "CSO: Census 2022 Profile 1 - Population Distribution and Movement F1020 - Population". CSO. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  22. ^ "CSO: Births, Deaths & Marriages - VSA16 - Births". CSO. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  23. ^ "SAP2022T2T2CTY - Usually Resident Population by Ethnic or Cultural Background". CSO. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  24. ^ "Census 2022 Profile 5 - Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers & Religion F5082 - Population usually resident and present in the State". CSO. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  25. ^ "Census of Population 2016 – Profile 8 Irish Travellers, Ethnicity and Religion". CSO. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  26. ^ "Census 2022 Profile 1 - Population Distribution and Movement F1052 - Birthplace of Population Usually Resident and Present in the State". CSO. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  27. ^ "F5001 - Population Usually Resident and Present in the State". CSO. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  28. ^ "Doegen Records Web Project: Who was Doegen? / Why did Doegen come to Ireland?". Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  29. ^ "Irish Language". Louth County Council. Archived from the original on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  30. ^ "Profile 8 - The Irish Language and Education F8015 - Irish speakers aged 3 years and over". census.cso.ie. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  31. ^ "Census 2022 Profile 5 - Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers & Religion F5051 - Population Usually Resident and Present in the State". CSO. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  32. ^ "Services". Louth County Council. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  33. ^ County of Louth Local Electoral Areas and Municipal Districts Order 2018 (S.I. No. 626 of 2018). Signed on 19 December 2018. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 8 September 2020.
  34. ^ County Of Louth Local Electoral Areas And Municipal Districts (Amendment) Order 2019 (S.I. No. 6 of 2019). Signed on 17 January 2019. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 8 September 2020.
  35. ^ Local Government Reform Act 2014, s. 19: Municipal districts (No. 1 of 2014, s. 19). Enacted on 27 January 2014. Act of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 5 September 2020.
  36. ^ "Biden awarded the honorary freedom of Louth". The Argus. 2 July 2016. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  37. ^ Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017, Schedule (No. 39 of 2017, Schedule). Enacted on 23 December 2017. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 8 August 2021.
  38. ^ "Report on Dáil and European Parliament Constituencies 2007" (PDF). Constituency Commission. 23 October 2007. p. 32. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  39. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
edit

53°50′N 6°30′W / 53.833°N 6.500°W / 53.833; -6.500