100-726: Mellifont Abbey ( Irish : An Mhainistir Mhór , literally 'the Big Monastery'), was a Cistercian abbey located close to Drogheda in County Louth , Ireland . It was the first abbey of the order to be built in Ireland. In 1152, it hosted the Synod of Kells-Mellifont . After its dissolution in 1539, the abbey became a private manor house. This saw the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont in 1603 and served as William of Orange 's headquarters in 1690 during
200-620: A County in its own right , styled as 'the County of the town of Drogheda'. 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. Until the late 16th century, 1596, Louth was considered part of Ulster, before becoming part of Leinster after
300-540: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
400-401: 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. Louth, colloquially known as "The Wee County", is
500-697: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of
600-560: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It
700-688: 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 . The 16th and 17th centuries featured many skirmishes and battles involving Irish and English forces, as Louth
800-472: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,
900-541: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of
1000-586: 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
1100-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in
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#17330861688691200-398: A local townland, Donnchad Ua Cearbhall , the king of Airgialla ( Oriel ), who had donated the land, also gave gold, while Derbforgaill , the wife of Tigernan Ua Ruairc gave gold, a chalice and altar cloths . The abbey was dissolved in 1539, when it became a fortified house, built there by Edward Moore in 1556 with materials taken from the old abbey. In 1603 the Treaty of Mellifont
1300-524: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
1400-554: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
1500-611: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
1600-488: A result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within
1700-512: A significant increase from 2.5% in the 2016 census. In contrast to the other counties in the Mid-East Region , which are characterised by widespread migration from Dublin , 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
1800-537: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
1900-487: 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. As of the 2019 local election , Louth has been divided into five local electoral areas , whose councillors sit in three municipal districts: Ardee (which
2000-584: Is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as
2100-461: 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 . The county
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#17330861688692200-448: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
2300-399: 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 ). The following people have received the freedom of County Louth. For elections to Dáil Éireann, Louth is represented by the five-seat Dáil constituency of Louth which takes all in
2400-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years
2500-839: 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
2600-431: Is named after the village of Louth . Louth County Council is the local authority for the county. 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
2700-567: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described
2800-431: 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
2900-510: 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,
3000-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it
3100-659: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
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3200-743: The Annals of the Four Masters , which states that the synod was attended by bishops and kings along with the Papal Legate , Giovanni Cardinal Paparoni (also known as John Cardinal Paparo; Saint Malachy had died some four years earlier). The consecration of the church took place in 1157 and asserted Church authority by banishing the King of Meath , Donnchadh Ua Maeleachlainn . Various kings gave donations to assist this foundation: Muirchertach Ua Lochlainn , provincial king of Ulster , gave cattle, some gold and also
3300-470: 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
3400-600: The Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Mellifont Abbey is now a ruin. Little of the original abbey remains, save a 13th-century lavabo (where the monks washed their hands before eating), some Romanesque arches and a 14th-century chapter house . New Mellifont Abbey is home to the Cistercian monks and is located in Collon, a small village and townland in the southwest corner of County Louth , on
3500-596: The Battle of the Boyne . Today, the ruined abbey is a national monument of Ireland and accessible to the public. The English language name for the monastery, 'Mellifont', comes from the Latin phrase Melli-fons , meaning 'Font of Honey '. Mellifont Abbey sits on the banks of the River Mattock, some 10 km (6 miles) north-west of Drogheda . The abbey was founded in 1142 on the orders of Saint Malachy , Archbishop of Armagh . By 1170, Mellifont had one hundred monks and three hundred lay brothers. The abbey became
3600-580: 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
3700-689: 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 . 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
3800-519: The N2 national primary road. Supported by Cardinal McRory, it was re-established in 1938 by monks from Mount Melleray Abbey who purchased Oriel Temple , the residence of Lord Massareene (formerly the residence of First Baron Oriel John Foster MP the last Speaker of the Irish House of Commons), the land was originally owned by the old Mellifont Abbey. In 1945 it was elevated to the status of Abbey. As well as
3900-619: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
4000-536: 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
4100-611: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
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4200-446: 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). Met Éireann records climate data for the county from their station at Boharnamoe, ca. 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from Ardee , in
4300-769: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
4400-412: 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. The second largest ethnic group in Louth in 2022 was black, accounting for 3.3% of the population. Of this group, virtually
4500-684: The 2022 census. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 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
4600-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
4700-563: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
4800-463: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
4900-561: The Farm, they also operate a garden ( Mellifont Abbey Gardens ) and a nursery/garden centre which is open to the public. As with the Benedictine tradition the abbey offers a guest house for those wishing to stay. In 1998 Dr. Sean Brady (future Cardinal) and Cardinal Cahal Daly officiated at a mass with the Mellifont community at the old Mellifont Abbey, to celebrate 900 years since the Cistercian order
5000-536: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but
5100-546: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
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#17330861688695200-492: The Republic of Ireland accounted for just 13.9% of Louth's population in 2022, compared with 49.2% in neighbouring 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. 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). The Cooley Peninsula
5300-590: 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. 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
5400-731: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He
5500-410: The border with Northern Ireland have experienced a slight decline since 2011. 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
5600-458: 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
5700-455: 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
5800-405: 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. According to the Central Statistics Office , 139,703 people lived in County Louth as of
5900-447: 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. The local authority
6000-424: The county of Louth, and in County Meath , the electoral divisions of Julianstown and part of St. Mary's. 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
6100-427: 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
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#17330861688696200-457: The dialect were made by German linguist Wilhelm Doegen for the Royal Irish Academy in 1928. 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
6300-664: The education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to the 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of
6400-414: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
6500-433: 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. 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,
6600-413: 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
6700-430: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
6800-498: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
6900-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of
7000-425: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
7100-458: 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. 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
7200-454: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
7300-456: The model for other Cistercian abbeys built in Ireland, with its formal style of architecture imported from the abbeys of the same order in France; it was the main abbey in Ireland until its dissolution. Other Cistercian houses in Ireland were often called "the daughters of Mellifont". From about 1275 they were free from English control. An important synod was held in Mellifont in 1152 as recorded in
7400-771: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
7500-463: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them
7600-402: 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. Louth has experienced a rapid rate of population growth since the 1960s, nearly doubling in size in
7700-639: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as
7800-498: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
7900-539: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After
8000-409: 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). In 2021, there were 1,677 births within the county, and the average age of a first time mother was 30.5. The most populous towns in Louth as of the 2022 census were (population in parentheses): As of
8100-487: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
8200-432: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
8300-625: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in
8400-409: 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
8500-431: 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
8600-469: 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
8700-705: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at
8800-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By
8900-650: Was agreed between the English Crown and Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone , in the abbey grounds. Mellifont was then the property of The 1st Viscount Moore , who was a close friend of Lord Tyrone, and helped persuade him to sign the Treaty. The Moore family, who later became Earls of Drogheda , remained the owners of Mellifont until 1727. The Abbey was attacked and looted during the Irish Rebellion of 1641 . William of Orange used Mellifont Abbey House as his headquarters during
9000-523: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from
9100-500: 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
9200-643: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build
9300-648: Was established in Ireland, and the 850 anniversary of the death of St. Malachy, as well as the 60th anniversary of the re-establishment of the community. In 2019 New Mellifont hosted Brothers and Sisters from Cistercian Communities in Ireland, and some from Scotland and England in celebrating the 900th anniversary of the first Cistercian charter of charity † Buried in Our Lady of Mellifont Abbey Cemetery, Collon, County Louth Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
9400-555: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. County Louth County Louth ( / l aʊ ð / LOWDH ; Irish : Contae Lú )
9500-526: 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
9600-563: 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 ;
9700-465: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
9800-678: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
9900-402: 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
10000-442: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
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