Dundalk

Dundalk, a seaport of Co. Louth, Ireland, in the north parliamentary division, on the Castletown river near its mouth in Dundalk Bay. Pop. of urban district (1901), 13,076. It is an important junction on the Great Northern railway, by the main line of which it is 54 m. N. from Dublin. The company has its works here, and a line diverges to the north-west of Ireland. Dundalk is connected with the port of Greenore (for Holyhead) by a line owned by the London & North-Western railway company of England. The parish church is an old and spacious edifice with a curious wooden steeple covered with copper; and the Roman Catholic chapel is a handsome building in the style of King’s College chapel, Cambridge. There are ruins of a Franciscan priory, with a lofty tower. Adjacent to the town are several fine parks and demesnes. Until 1885 a member was returned to parliament. A brisk trade, chiefly in agricultural and dairy produce, is carried on, and the town contains some manufactories. Distilling and brewing are the principal industrial works, and there are besides a flax and jute-spinning mill, salt works, &c. The port is the seat of a considerable trade, mainly in agricultural produce and live stock. It is also the centre of a sea-fishery district and of salmon fisheries. Dundalk was a borough by prescription, and received charters from Edward III. and successive monarchs. Edward Bruce, having invaded Ireland from Scotland in 1315, proceeded south from his landing-place in Antrim, ravaging as he came, to Dundalk, which he stormed, and proclaimed himself king here. In this neighbourhood, too, he was defeated and killed by the English under Sir John de Bermingham in 1318, and at Faughart near Dundalk, near the ruined church of St Bridget, he is buried.