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County of Louth

County Louth
Contae Lú
Coat of arms of County Louth
Coat of arms
Motto: Lugh sáimh-ioldánach  (Irish)
"Lugh equally skilled in many arts"
Location of County Louth
Country Ireland
Province Leinster
Dáil Éireann Louth
EU Parliament Midlands–North-West
County town Dundalk
Government
 • Type County Council
Area
 • Total 826 km2 (319 sq mi)
Area rank 32nd
Population (2016) 128,375
 • Rank 18th
Vehicle index
mark code
LH
Website www.louthcoco.ie

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 2016 census.

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 18th-largest in terms of population. It is the smallest of Leinster’s 12 counties by size and the sixth-largest by population.

Despite its fairly average total population, Louth is the second most densely populated county in Ireland behind Dublin, and the fourth on the island of Ireland, due to its small size.

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). 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.


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