Louth has a long history (and prehistory) of human occupation, dating back to the Mesolithic. The quarries at Mell, near Drogheda, furnished the only Palaeolithic tool ever found in Ireland, but it is thought that this was originally made and dropped on dry land in the Irish Sea basin and carried up into County Louth by the Scottish ice.
Sites and Monuments Record
There are more than 1500 sites recorded in the Record of Monuments and Places under the National Monuments Acts. More than 20 of these are National Monuments in the ‘traditional’ sense, though the current interpretation of the law, that any sites in the ownership of guardianship of a statutory body is a national monument would mean a very much higher (but so far uncalculated) total.
You may view the Sites and Monuments record for Louth at archaeology.ie.
Once the map viewer has loaded, simply select 'Louth' in the county dropdown list on the right-hand side. You can then view all records for Louth, or select a town or townland to view only the monuments in that area. You may also zoom in and out for different degrees of detail.
Louth’s archaeological heritage is protected under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2004.
