Louth, County Louth
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Louth () is a village at the heart of
County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. It is approximately 11 km south-west of
Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...
, 11 km to the neighbouring town of Ardee and 15 km south-east of
Carrickmacross Carrickmacross () is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The population was 5,745 at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, making it the second-largest town in the county. Carrickmacross is a market town which developed around a castle buil ...
town in
County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of Border Region, Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town ...
. The village gave its name to the county. Louth is in a barony and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of the same name.


Etymology

The village is named after
Lugh Lugh or Lug (; ) is a figure in Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a group of supernatural beings, Lugh is portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a saviour.Olmsted, Garrett. ''The Gods of the Celts and the I ...
, a god of the ancient Irish, and may once have been the site of a
shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...
dedicated to the god. Historically, the place-name was spelt in variously different ways such as; "''Lughmhagh"'', "''Lughmhadh"'' and "''Lughbhadh"''. The first is thought to mean "Lugh's plain" or "Lugh's field", but the meaning of the other two is unclear. ''Lú'' is the modern simplified spelling.


History

According to tradition, Mochta—a Christian missionary from
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
—founded a
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
at Louth in the 6th century, known today as St. Mochta's House. In the 1920s the structure was completely dismantled and rebuilt in an attempt to save it from damage caused by ivy. In the 12th century, Saint Mary's Monastery was built approximately 50m east, but today lies in ruins after the dissolution of the monasteries under the English king
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
. The current structure dates mainly from the 1300s it is believed that Edward Bruce of Scotland stayed at the priory in 1315, leading to the estate being fined by the English crown. The remnants of a motte-and-bailey castle stand in a private field overlooking much of the village, on the edge of the Artoney townland. The eight meter tall motte - known locally as the Fairy Mound - is the highest point in the village and in Norman times had a wooden structure atop. 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 monastery, a , piece known locally as The Pinnacle, suddenly collapsed overnight. The
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
Church of the Immaculate Conception, which was built in 1892, sits atop a hill overlooking the village and surrounding area. Its interior 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 a renovated modern-style interior. The local GAA team took the name St. Mochtas and play at the nearby Pairc Mochta founded in 1949, in honour of the saint who founded the small church in the village in the 6th century. The local primary school, St. Mochta's NS, was established in 1973.


Annalistic references

* ''AI818.2 The shrine of Mochta of Lugmad in flight before Aed, son of Niall, and it came to Les Mór.''


People

The population of the village doubled from 373 inhabitants as of the 1991 census to 735 people as of the 2016 census. The village was home to former
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...
(TD) Eddie Filgate. Filgate was first elected to the 21st Dáil at the 1977 general election in the Louth constituency. He died in 2017, aged 101, at which time he was living next to the site of his childhood home on the outskirts of the village, in the Priorstate townland. Denis Faul (1932–2006), Roman Catholic priest and civil rights campaigner, was born in Louth.


See also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland * List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Louth)


References

{{Authority control Louth Civil parishes of County Louth