Louth, County, is the smallest county in the Republic of Ireland. It lies on the nation’s east coast and shares its northern border with Northern Ireland. County Louth is in the province of Leinster. It has two large towns, Drogheda and Dundalk. County Louth has more urban residents, and is more industrialized, than most areas of the Republic of Ireland. 
Economy.
Most of County Louth’s workers are employed in service industries, which include education, health care and social work, professional services, and retail and wholesale trade. Tourism is important in Dundalk and in the county’s many historic villages. 
The agriculture, construction, and manufacturing sectors are also important. The farmland of County Louth is suitable for a wide variety of uses. The main crops include barley, oats, potatoes, and wheat. Most farms are mixed, with beef cattle production and dairying as the chief livestock enterprises. Most of the county’s manufacturing industries are in Drogheda and Dundalk. In Drogheda, there are varied food processing and light engineering industries. Dundalk has brewing, engineering, and meat industries.
Land.
Much of the county is lowland, rising to hills in the southwest. The only mountainous area is the scenic Carlingford Peninsula in the north. Carlingford Mountain, on the peninsula, rises 1,935 feet (590 meters) above sea level. It provides views across the inlet named Carlingford Lough to the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland. The River Boyne in the south of County Louth enters the Irish Sea at Drogheda. Much of the county’s coast is low-lying, and there are some sandy beaches.
History.
Historically, County Louth was strategically important because it lay on the main route between Leinster and Ulster and at the edge of the Pale, the area under English control in Ireland. The county’s many castles reflect this feature of its past.
Northern County Louth is associated with Cúchulainn, a hero of Irish mythology, and with the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), the most famous of Irish mythical tales.
Fine sculptured crosses and a round tower mark the site of a Celtic monastery at Monasterboice. Ireland’s first Cistercian monastery was at Mellifont. Cistercians are Roman Catholic monks and nuns.
County Louth was part of the Ulster kingdom of Oriel before the Anglo-Normans captured it in the 1100’s. Drogheda became an important town. The Irish Parliament, composed of noblemen allied to the English king, sometimes met there. The English leader Oliver Cromwell stormed Drogheda and massacred its Irish garrison (group of defending soldiers) in 1649.
