County Louth

County Louth (Contae Lú) is a  on the  coast of, on the border with.

The county town is, which is also the largest town in Louth. The majority of the county's population live in either Dundalk or. The 2006 Census confirmed and  as not only the largest towns in the county, but also the largest  in.

Drogheda has a population marginally larger than that of Dundalk. This however, includes areas and suburbs of Drogheda which lie in County Meath.

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 Lughbaidh comes from the place of worship of the Celtic god Lugh whose festival was celebrated at Lughnasa. The Irish month Lughnasa and day of the week De Luain are both derived from Lugh, also.

The names for both county and village have been revised to An Lú. This is is taken from the Irish for the least, due to Louth being the smallest county in Ireland.

History
This is a county steeped in myth, legend and history, going back to the pre-historical days of the (Cooley Cattle Raid, see ). Later it saw the influence of the as seen in the name of.

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 (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. attacked Drogheda in slaughtering the Royalist garrison.

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 - the battle takes its name from the river Boyne which reaches the sea at.