Theme Week Leinster – Dundalk
Saturday, 27 May 2023 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union General
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Town Hall © DSexton/cc-by-sa-4.0
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Dundalk (
Irish : Dún Dealgan), meaning “the fort of Dealgan”, is the
county town (the administrative centre) of
County Louth ,
Ireland . The town is on the
Castletown River , which flows into
Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is halfway between
Dublin and
Belfast , close to the border with
Northern Ireland . It is the eighth largest
urban area in Ireland , with a population of 39,004 as of the 2016 census.
Having been inhabited since the Neolithic period, Dundalk was established as a Norman stronghold in the 12th century following the Norman invasion of Ireland , and became the northernmost outpost of The Pale in the Late Middle Ages . The town came to be nicknamed the “Gap of the North” where the northernmost point of the province of Leinster meets the province of Ulster . The modern street layout dates from the early 18th century and owes its form to James Hamilton (later 1st Earl of Clanbrassil ). The legends of the mythical warrior hero Cú Chulainn are set in the district and the motto on the town’s coat of arms is Mé do rug Cú Chulainn cróga (Irish ) “I gave birth to brave Cú Chulainn”.
St Patricks Church © Stefan Schäfer/cc-by-sa-3.0
The town developed brewing, distilling, tobacco, textile, and engineering industries during the nineteenth century. It became prosperous and its population grew as it became an important manufacturing and trading centre—both as a hub on the
Great Northern Railway (Ireland) network and with its maritime link to
Liverpool from the Port of Dundalk. It later suffered from high
unemployment and
urban decay after these industries closed or scaled back operations both in the aftermath of the
Partition of Ireland in 1921 and following the accession of Ireland to the
European Economic Community in 1973. New industries have been established in the early part of the 21st century, including pharmaceutical, technology, financial services, and specialist foods.
There is one
third-level education institute —
Dundalk Institute of Technology . The largest theatre in the town,
An Táin Arts Centre (named after
the legend of the same name ), is housed in the Town Hall, and the restored buildings of the nearby former
Dundalk Distillery house both the
County Museum Dundalk and the Louth County Library. Sporting clubs include
Dundalk Football Club (who play at
Oriel Park ),
Dundalk Rugby Club , Dundalk Golf Club, and several clubs competing in
Gaelic games .
Dundalk Stadium is a
horse and
greyhound racing venue and is Ireland’s only all-weather horse racing track.
Here you can find the complete
Overview of all Theme Weeks .
Read more on
VisitLouth.ie – Dundalk ,
Wikivoyage Dundalk and
Wikipedia Dundalk . Learn more about the
use of photos . To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (
Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State -
Weather report by weather.com -
Global Passport Power Rank -
Travel Risk Map -
Democracy Index -
GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank -
Global Competitiveness Report -
Corruption Perceptions Index -
Press Freedom Index -
World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index -
UN Human Development Index -
Global Peace Index -
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at
comment@wingsch.net . Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
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