County Louth () is a county on the east coast of Ireland, on the border with Northern Ireland.
The county town is Dundalk, which is also the largest town in Louth. Most people that live in Louth live in the two biggest towns, Dundalk and Drogheda. The 2006 Census showed that Dundalk and Drogheda as not only the largest towns in the Louth, but also the second and third largest towns in Ireland.
Louth is nicknamed "the Wee County" because it is the smallest county in Ireland ("wee" means small).
Where the name comes from
The old Irish name of the county Lughbhaidh comes from the place where people worshipped the Celtic god whose festival was celebrated at .
The name is now spelled as An Lú. This is just the modern way of spelling Lughbhaidh. 'Lú' means 'small' in Irish, but this is not where the name comes from.
History
The history of Louth goes back a long time. Before people wrote down histories and dates, a famous Irish story is supposed to have happened in Louth. It is called the Táin Bó Cúailge. In this story, a famous warrior called Cúchulainn fights a whole army by himself to protect a brown bull from being stolen.
There are some old monasteries in the county including Monasterboice and Mellifont Abbey
In the fourteenth century the Scottish army of Edward Bruce lost the Battle of Faughart near Dundalk. Edward was killed in the battle. Oliver Cromwell attacked Drogheda in 1649 killing the Royalist garrison (Siege of Drogheda).