Drogheda, a seaport town, and county of itself, in the south-east of County Louth, built mostly on the north bank of the river Boyne, 4 miles from its mouth, 32 N. of Dublin by rail, and 81 S. of Belfast. The Boyne is crossed here by a railway viaduct 95 feet high. There are linen and cotton manufactures, ironworks, tanneries, breweries, and salt-works. It has a considerable export trade, chiefly with Liverpool (140 miles distant), in corn, meal, flour, cattle, linen, hides, butter, and eggs. Vessels of 500 tons reach the quay, and barges of 50 tons ply 19 miles up the Boyne to Navan. Pop. (1851) 16,845; (1891) 11,873, almost entirely Catholics. Up to 1885 Drogheda sent one member to parliament. From the 14th to the 17th centuries, Drogheda (often called Tredah) was the chief military station in
Leinster. In 1649 Cromwell stormed the town after a desperate struggle, and for a stern lesson to the Irish, put its stubborn garrison to the sword. Poyning's laws were enacted here in 1494, and about the same time a mint was set up. Drogheda surrendered to William III. the day after the battle of the Boyne (q.v.). See John D'Alton's History of Drogheda (2 vols. 1844).