DUNDALK

In 1868, the parish of Dundalk contained the following places:

"DUNDALK, a parish, parliamentary borough, and maritime town, locally situated in the hundred of the same name, in the county of Louth, of which it is the county town. It is situated in 54° 1' N. lat., and 6° 24', W. long., at the mouth of the small river of Castletown, in Dundalk Bay. It has stations on the Irish North-Western and Dublin and Belfast Junction railways. The borough contains a population by the census return of 1861, of 10,404, and is governed by a bailiff and 16 burgesses, and returns one member to the imperial parliament. It is a place of considerable antiquity. The earliest historical notice we possess occurs in 1180, when John do Courcy was defeated here, with great loss, by the Irish. In the reigns of Henry II. and Henry III. an Augustine Priory and Franciscan Friary were founded here; one tower, and some other slight traces, however, are all that now remain. For a short time this town was the residence of Edward Bruce, who was crowned here, and held his court here until the fatal battle in which he was slain. In the reign of Richard II. it was made a free borough, and in that of Henry IV. permission was granted to surround the town with walls. In 1560 it was besieged by the O'Nials, but was so valiantly defended that they abandoned their design. In 1649 it was compelled to surrender to Cromwell. The town consists of two principal streets, about a mile in length intersecting each other in the market square, and of several smaller streets; they contain some good shops and houses, but a large portion of the town is poor and wretched in the extreme. The southern entrance has been greatly improved by the erection of several handsome houses; at the northern extremity is a bridge over the Castletown river, connecting it with a small suburb on the opposite side; at the eastern end is a spacious cavalry barrack. The chief public buildings are the county court-house, exchange, infirmary, prison, guildhall, market-house, grammar and National schools, and the barracks. The streets are paved and lighted with gas. A literary society has been established; and there are two subscription newsrooms, and a good assembly-room. A hunt is supported, and races are occasionally held here. Petty sessions are held every Saturday; the assizes for the county and the quarter sessions are also held here. The chief architectural object of any pretension is the court-house, a handsome modern edifice; it is situated in the middle of the town, and contains two spacious and well-arranged courts, a chapel, a school, and a hospital. There are also three new banks, a gaol, and commercial building. The manufactures of Dundalk are tobacco, soap, leather, and starch; the cambric manufacture was formerly carried on, but has now ceased. Timber, coal, iron, slate, grain, and cattle, which form the chief trade, are exported to Liverpool, and other British ports. The port and harbour have recently been greatly improved by widening and deepening the channel, and removing the bar at the mouth of the river, so that vessels drawing 16 feet of water can come up. A lighthouse, on the screw-pile principle has been erected at the barony-The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Armagh, and in the gift of the lord primate and the Earl of Roden. The church is an elegant cruciform structure, with a double transept. There are three Roman Catholic chapels, a friary, a convent, a monastery, and also Presbyterian and Methodist meeting-houses. The chief schools are the endowed classical school, the Dundalk Institution, and the school of Erasmus Smith. Near the town is a spring arched over with ancient masonry, called the Lady Well. On the plains of Ballynahatna are the remains of a Druidical temple partly enclosed by a curved rampart; and near this place is a circular fort, surrounded by a fosse and rampart, supposed to have been thrown up by the earliest inhabitants. There are three newspapers in the town, the Newry Examiner and Louth Advertiser, the Democrat, and the Dundalk and Newry Express. Monday is market day. Fairs are held on the third Wednesday in every month except May, when it is on the 17th."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2018