County Louth (Irish: Contae Lú) is a county on the east coast of Ireland, on the border with Northern Ireland.
The original Irish name Lughbaidh comes from the name of Louth Village, in the heart of the county, which takes its name from the Celtic god Lugh.

Both county and village have been revised to An Lú meaning "the least".
This is due to Louth being the smallest of the original counties of Ireland and possibly a mistranslation.[citation needed] The county town is Dundalk, which is also the largest town in Louth.

The majority of the county's population live in either Dundalk or Drogheda.

The 2006 Census confirmed Dundalk and Drogheda as not only the largest towns in the county, but also the largest towns in Ireland. Drogheda has a population marginally larger than that of Dundalk.
This however, includes areas and suburbs of Drogheda which lie in County Meath.

This is a county steeped in myth, legend and history, going back to the pre-historical days of the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cooley Cattle Raid, see Cúchulainn).

Later it saw the influence of the Vikings as seen in the name of Carlingford Lough. In the early fourteenth century the Scottish army of Edward Bruce (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.

Oliver Cromwell attacked Drogheda in 1649 slaughtering the Royalist garrison (Siege of Drogheda). 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 Battle of the Boyne - the battle takes its name from the river Boyne which reaches the sea at Drogheda.