County Louth

County Louth (Irish: Contae Lú) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the village of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 122,897 according to the 2011 census.

Geography

County Louth is colloquially known as 'the Wee County' as it is Ireland's smallest county by area (826 km² (319 mi²). It is the 19th-largest in terms of population. It is the smallest of Leinster’s 12 counties by size and the sixth-largest by population.

It is the second most densely populated county in Ireland behind Dublin, and the fourth on the island of Ireland.

History

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). Lú is the modern simplified spelling.

The county is steeped in myth, legend and history, and is a setting in the Táin Bó Cúailnge. 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 Airgialla (Oriel) early in the 12th century.

Louth (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

Louth was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons to 1801.

Members of Parliament

1692–1801

Notes

References

County Louth (UK Parliament constituency)

County Louth, otherwise known as Louth County or Louth, is a former parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1801 to 1885 it returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), and one in 1918–1922.

Boundaries

From 1801 to 1885, the constituency comprised the whole of County Louth, except for the Parliamentary boroughs of Drogheda and Dundalk. Between 1885 and 1918 the county was divided into the county division constituencies North Louth and South Louth. In 1918, the reunited constituency covered the entire county of Louth plus a small part of County Meath near Drogheda.

History

Louth was a constituency in the first Dáil election in December 1918 when Sinn Féin won by 255 votes, its narrowest margin of victory in that election. John J. O'Kelly, a native of Kerry, resident in Glasnevin (Dublin), was Louth's first TD. The constituency was merged with Meath to form the 5 seat Louth–Meath constituency for the 2nd and 3rd Dála. In 1923 Louth became a new 3 seat constituency.