Louth Genealogy Tours
My Ireland Heritage find your Ancestors and exact house location from the 1700’s to the late 1800’s, and all available records in Ireland. We are an Irish family business dedicated to assisting you in your Irish Genealogy research for your roots and records of your family history of past generations in Louth, as well as providing you with a once in a lifetime Irish Genealogy tour experience to visit your families original family house and Walk in the Footsteps of your Irish Ancestors.
Sean and the Team at My Ireland Heritage are a Government certified & approved Genealogy & Touring Company, and will personally guide you on the journey into your Irish ancestry to any County in Ireland.
Many companies are genealogy research only, many companies are touring companies only, we at My Ireland Family Heritage are proud to be able to encompass your research and tour together enabling us to work with you throughout the process to customize your tour with you and for you. To achieve a full genealogy tour experience consider adding one of our one-day historical tours.
Our Tours
Our Ancestral Townland Experience Tours
County Louth is Ireland’s smallest county by area, tucked into the northeast corner of Leinster between the Cooley Peninsula and the River Boyne. Its compact size belies a genuinely significant history, from the ancient high crosses of Monasterboice to the medieval streets of Carlingford and Drogheda, and its farming and fishing communities produced generations of emigrants who left through the county’s own ports as well as further afield.
Louth’s small size means its parishes are closely packed, and civil parish boundaries here can be particularly easy to misread if you’re relying only on the name printed on an old certificate. We work through whichever church congregation your family actually used, whether Catholic or Church of Ireland, confirming the specific graveyard and townland before building your tour. Given the county’s compact geography, it’s often possible to cover several generations’ worth of family locations in a single, well-planned day.
A Louth tour can combine Drogheda’s historic streets and the Boyne Valley’s landscape with the wilder Cooley Peninsula and Carlingford Lough, arriving at your own family’s townland along the way. For a small county, Louth offers a remarkably rich and varied setting for reconnecting with your family’s story.
- Louth has 5 Baronies
- Louth has 67 civil parishes
- Louth has 43 Electoral Divisions
- Louth has 655 Townlands
- Louth has 11 Sub townlands
County Louth is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Border Region. The population of the county is 122,897 according to the most recent census. Louth is the smallest county in Ireland Cork being the largest the county is steeped in myth, legend and history, and is a setting in the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Later it saw the influence of the Vikings as seen in the name of Carlingford Lough. They also established a longphort at Annagassan in the ninth century. At this time Louth consisted of three sub-kingdoms each subject to separate over-kingdoms: Ulaidh, Airgialla, and, the Midhe. The whole area became part of the O’Carroll Kingdom of Airgialla (Oriel) early in the 12th century.
The Normans occupied the Louth area in the 1180s, and it became known as ‘English’ Oriel, to distinguish it from the remainder (‘Irish’ Oriel) which remained in Irish hands. The latter became the McMahon lordship of Oriel of Monaghan. The town of Drogheda being fortified by the Norman family De Lacy. (see our 9000 Years Historical County Meath Day Tour)
In the early 14th century, the Scottish army of Robert & Edward Bruce was repulsed from Drogheda. Edward was finally defeated, losing his claim to the High Kingship of Ireland along with his life, in the Battle of Faughart near Dundalk. Coincidently when the De Bruce campaign laid pillage to Kildare the area synonymize with St Bridget it was a known fact that Faugherd was St Bridgets Birth place.
Family Dynasties 1500-1600 AD
- Irish – O’Carroll, McMahon
- Norman – Birmingham, Taffe, De Lacey
- Scottish – None
- Viking – None
County Louth – Things to do and may be possible to include within your Ancestral Townland Experience Tour
- Monasterboice
- Rushmoor Country Park
- Irelands Ancient East
- St James Church
- Lincolnshire Wolds
- The Cattle Raid of Cooley or The Táin walk via the Cooley Mountains
- Louth Museum
- Hill of Slane 432 ad St Patrick
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Louth really the smallest county in Ireland?
Yes, County Louth is the smallest of Ireland’s 32 counties by land area.
Does Louth's small size make genealogy research easier?
It can help, since locations are closer together, though confirming the correct parish and church still requires careful cross-checking, just as in any county.
Can a Louth tour cover both Drogheda and the Cooley Peninsula in one day?
In many cases, yes, given the county’s compact geography, though the exact itinerary depends on your specific family locations.
