Editing Drogheda (section)

==History==
[[File:Looking down Peter Street Drogheda - geograph.org.uk - 4796214 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[The Tholsel, Drogheda|The Tholsel]]]]
[[File:Drogheda Commemorates.jpg|thumb|left|Commemoration of Official Charter]]

===Hinterland===
{{Historical populations|state=collapsed
|1811|15590
|1813|16123
|1821|18118
|1831|17365
|1841|17300
|1851|16810
|1861|14722
|1871|13510
|1881|12297
|1891|11873
|1901|12760
|1911|12501
|1926|12716
|1936|14494
|1946|15715
|1951|16779
|1956|17008
|1961|17085
|1966|17908
|1971|20095
|1981|23615
|1986|24681
|1991|24656
|1996|25282
|2002|31020
|2006|35090
|2011|38578
|2016|40956
|2022|44135
||footnote=<ref>See http://www.cso.ie/census {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050309005718/http://www.cso.ie/census/ |date=9 March 2005 }} and http://www.histpop.org {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507023856/http://www.histpop.org/ |date=7 May 2016 }} for post 1821 figures, 1813 estimate from Mason's Statistical Survey. For a discussion on the accuracy of pre-famine census returns see J.J. Lee "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses", ''Irish Population, Economy and Society,'' eds. J.M. Goldstrom and L.A. Clarkson (1981) p.54, and also "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850" by Joel Mokyr and Cormac O Grada in ''The Economic History Review,'' New Series, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Nov. 1984), pp. 473–488.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://citypopulation.de/en/ireland/towns/louth_meath/10009__drogheda/ | website = City Population | title = Drogheda (Ireland) Agglomeration | access-date = 12 July 2023 }}</ref><ref name="tableF1015census2022"/>}}

The town is situated in an area which contains a number of archaeological monuments dating from the Neolithic period onwards, of which the large [[passage tomb]]s of [[Newgrange]], [[Knowth]], and [[Dowth]] are probably the best known.<ref>Stout, G. 2002 ''Newgrange and the Bend of the Boyne''. Cork University Press.</ref> The density of archaeological sites of the prehistoric and early Christian periods uncovered in the course of ongoing developments, (including during construction of the Northern Motorway or 'Drogheda Bypass'), has shown that the hinterland of Drogheda has been a settled landscape for millennia.<ref>Bennett, I. (ed) 1987–2004 ''Excavations : Summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland''. Bray.</ref><ref>The Hidden Places of Ireland 190443410X David Gerrard – 2004 -"Two minutes from the centre of Drogheda. in the old townland of Mell."</ref>

===Town beginnings===
[[File:Drogheda StMaryMagdaleneFriary.JPG|thumb|right|[[Magdalene Tower, Drogheda|St Mary Magdalene Friary]].]]
Despite local tradition linking [[Millmount Fort|Millmount]] to [[Amergin Glúingel]], in his 1978 study of the history and archaeology of the town, John Bradley stated that "neither the documentary nor the archaeological evidence indicates that there was any settlement at the town prior to the coming of the Normans".<ref>Bradley, J. 1978 'The Topography and Layout of Medieval Drogheda', ''Co. Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal'', '''19''', 2, 98–127.</ref> The results of a number of often large-scale excavations carried out within the area of the medieval town appear to confirm this statement.<ref>Bennett op cit.</ref>

One of the earliest structures in the town is the [[motte-and-bailey castle]], now known as [[Millmount Fort]], which overlooks the town from a bluff on the south bank of the Boyne and which was probably erected by the [[Normans in Ireland|Norman]] Lord of Meath, [[Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath|Hugh de Lacy]], sometime before 1186. The wall on the east side of Rosemary Lane, a back-lane which runs from St. Laurence Street towards the Augustinian Church, is the oldest stone structure in Drogheda.<ref>Archaeology No. 5257: The medieval walls of Drogheda</ref> It was completed in 1234 as the west wall of the first castle guarding access to the northern crossing point of the Boyne. A later castle, circa 1600, called ''Laundy's Castle'' stood at the junction of West Street and Peter's Street. On Meathside, the ''Castle of Drogheda'' or ''The Castle of Comfort'' was a tower house castle on the south side of the Bull Ring. It served as a prison, and as a sitting of the Irish parliament in 1494.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://droghedalife.com/news/the-bullring-from-the-normans-to-poynings-law-and-ollies-pub|title=The Bullring - from the Normans to Poyning's Law and Ollie's Pub|date=18 August 2023|newspaper=Drogheda Life|access-date=21 October 2023}}</ref> The earliest known town charter is that granted to Drogheda-in-Meath by Walter de Lacy in 1194.<ref>Bradley ''op cit'' 105</ref> In the 1600s, the name of the town was also spelled "Tredagh" in keeping with the common pronunciation, as documented by [[Gerard Boate]] in his work ''Irelands' Natural History''. In ''c.'' 1655 it was spelled "Droghedagh" on a map by William Farriland.<ref>NLI. MS. 716, copy of map by Daniel O'Brien, ''c. 1780''</ref>

Drogheda was an important walled town in the [[The Pale|English Pale]] in the medieval period. It frequently hosted meetings of the [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish Parliament]] at that time. According to [[Rosamond Joscelyne Mitchell|R.J. Mitchell]] in ''John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester'', in a spill-over from the [[War of the Roses]] the [[Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond|Earl of Desmond]] and his two youngest sons (still children) were executed there on Valentine's Day 1468 on orders of the [[John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester|Earl of Worcester]], the [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]]. It later came to light (for example in Robert Fabyan's ''The New Chronicles of England and France''), that [[Elizabeth Woodville|Elizabeth Woodville, the queen consort]], was implicated in the orders given.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fabyan |first1=Robert |url=http://archive.org/details/newchroniclesofe00fabyuoft |title=The new chronicles of England and France, in two parts: by Robert Fabyan. Named by himself The concordance of histories. Reprinted from Pynson's edition of 1516. The first part collated with the editions of 1533, 1542, and 1559; and the second with a manuscript of the author's own time, as well as the subsequent editions: including the different continuations. To which are added a biographical and literary preface, and an index |last2=Ellis |first2=Henry |date=1811 |publisher=London : Printed for F.C. & J. Rivington [etc.] |others=Robarts – University of Toronto}}</ref> The parliament was moved to the town in 1494 and passed [[Poynings' Law (on certification of acts)|Poynings' Law]], the most significant legislation in Irish history, a year later. This effectively subordinated the Irish Parliament's [[legislature|legislative powers]] to the King and his [[Privy Council of England|English Council]].

===Later events===
[[File:Drogheda - St. Laurences Gate (5638818100).jpg|thumb|St. Laurence's Gate]]
{{Further|Siege of Drogheda (1641)|Siege of Drogheda}}
The town was [[siege of Drogheda|besieged]] twice during the [[Irish Confederate Wars]].

In the second [[siege of Drogheda]], an assault was made on the town from the south, the tall walls breached, and the town was taken by [[Oliver Cromwell]] on 11 September 1649,<ref>Antonia Fraser, Cromwell, our chief of men (London, 1973)</ref> as part of the [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland]] and it was the site of a [[Siege of Drogheda#Massacre|massacre]] of the [[Cavalier|Royalist]] defenders. In Cromwell's own words after the siege of Drogheda, "When they submitted, their officers were knocked on the head, and [[Decimation (Roman army)|every tenth man of the soldiers killed]] and the rest shipped to [[Barbados]]."<ref>[[s:Cromwell letter to William Lenthall|Cromwell letter to William Lenthall (1649)]]</ref>

In 1661, [[Henry Moore, 1st Earl of Drogheda|Henry Moore, 3rd Viscount Moore]] was created the [[Earl of Drogheda]] in the [[Peerage of Ireland]].

The [[Battle of the Boyne]], 1690, occurred some {{cvt|6|km|mi}} west of the town, on the banks of the [[River Boyne]], at Oldbridge. [[The Tholsel, Drogheda|The Tholsel]] in West Street was completed in 1770.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/13622030/the-tholsel-west-street-shop-lane-moneymore-drogheda-co-louth|title=The Tholsel, West Street, Shop Lane, Moneymore, Drogheda, Louth|publisher=[[National Inventory of Architectural Heritage]]|access-date=21 October 2023}}</ref>

In 1790, Drogheda Harbour Commissioners were established by the [[Port of Drogheda Act 1790]].<ref>(30 Geo. 3. c. 39 (I))</ref> They remained in place until 1997 when a commercial enterprise, the Drogheda Port Company, replaced them.

In 1825, the [[Drogheda Steam Packet Company]] was formed in the town, providing shipping services to [[Liverpool]].

In 1837, the population of Drogheda area was 17,365 people, of whom 15,138 lived in the town.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Entry for Drogheda in Lewis Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) |url=http://www.libraryireland.com/topog/d3.php |access-date=20 November 2014 |publisher=Libraryireland.com |archive-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006144408/http://www.libraryireland.com/topog/d3.php |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Town arms===
Drogheda's coat of arms features [[Laurence's Gate|St. Laurence's Gate]] with three lions, and a ship emerging from either side of the [[barbican]]. The town's motto {{lang|la|Deus praesidium, mercatura decus}} translates as "God our strength, merchandise our glory".

The [[star and crescent]] emblem in the crest of the coat of arms is mentioned as part of the mayor's seal by [[John D'Alton|D'Alton]] (1844).<ref>John D'Alton, The History of Drogheda: With Its Environs, and an Introductory Memoir of the Dublin and Drogheda Railway (1844), [https://archive.org/details/historydrogheda00dalgoog/page/n308 p. 138].</ref> In 2010, Irish president [[Mary McAleese]], in a speech delivered during an official visit to [[Turkey]], stated that the star and crescent had been added in the aftermath of the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] as gratitude for food supplies donated by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Sultan [[Abdülmecid I]], which had arrived at Drogheda by ship. Irish press quickly pointed out the story was a myth, with a local historian calling it 'nothing short of sheer nonsense'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Comyn |first=Alison |date=March 31, 2010 |title=PRESIDENT SPARKS STAR AND CRESCENT DEBATE |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/droghedaindependent/news/president-sparks-star-and-crescent-debate-27144260.html |website=[[Irish Independent]] |access-date=21 October 2018 |archive-date=21 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021112933/https://www.independent.ie/regionals/droghedaindependent/news/president-sparks-star-and-crescent-debate-27144260.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Arms">{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0325/1224267012277.html |title=President tells Turks an anecdote of myth not fact |last=Murray |first=Ken |date=25 March 2010 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=25 March 2010 |archive-date=20 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020142250/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0325/1224267012277.html |url-status=live}} "Liam Reilly, an administrator with the Old Drogheda Society based in the town's Millmount Museum, said last night the comments were incorrect. 'There are no records with the Drogheda Port Authority of this ever happening. Drogheda historians can trace the star and crescent back to 1210 when the British governor of Ireland, King John Lackland, granted the town its first charter,' he said"{{unreliable source?|date=December 2016}}

{{Cite web |title=Ottoman aid to the Irish to hit the big screen |url=http://www.todayszaman.com/news-269871-ottoman-aid-to-the-irish-to-hit-the-big-screen.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006144345/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-269871-ottoman-aid-to-the-irish-to-hit-the-big-screen.html |archive-date=6 October 2014 |access-date=20 November 2014 |website=TodaysZaman}}{{cite web |url=http://www.irishcentral.com/news/New-evidence-shows-Turkey-delivered-food--to-Ireland-during-the-famine-156681255.html |title=New evidence shows Turkey delivered food to Ireland during the famine |work=IrishCentral.com |date=2 June 2012 |access-date=20 November 2014 |archive-date=17 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017112248/http://www.irishcentral.com/news/New-evidence-shows-Turkey-delivered-food--to-Ireland-during-the-famine-156681255.html |url-status=live}}</ref><!-- In addition, a letter found in Ottoman archives, written by Irish notables, explicitly thanks [[Sultan]] [[Abdülmecid I]] for his help.{{cn}}--> However, later evidence, including a letter displayed at the office of the European Commission, confirms that Turkey came to the aid of the Irish during the 1845–1852 famine.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Murray |first=Ken |date=June 1, 2010 |title=Role of Turkey during Famine clarified |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/role-of-turkey-during-famine-clarified-1.672383 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=10 April 2019 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112035418/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/role-of-turkey-during-famine-clarified-1.672383 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/article/153809 |title=Ireland remembers how 19th century aid from Ottoman sultan changed fate of thousands &#124; Daily Sabah |date=16 February 2020 |website=Ireland remembers how 19th century aid from Ottoman sultan changed fate of thousands |access-date=7 September 2020 |archive-date=1 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701121310/https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2020/02/16/ireland-remembers-how-19th-century-aid-from-ottoman-sultan-changed-fate-of-thousands |url-status=live }}</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:St Oliver Plunkett's head 2007-10-5.jpg|thumb|St Oliver Plunkett's Head]]
In 1921, the preserved severed head of [[Oliver Plunkett|Saint Oliver Plunkett]], who was executed in London in 1681, was put on display in [[St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Drogheda|St. Peter's (Catholic) Church]], where it remains today. The church is located on West Street, which is the main street in the town.

In 1979, [[Pope John Paul II]] visited Drogheda as part of his [[Pope John Paul II's visit to Ireland|five-stop tour of Ireland]]. He arrived less than a month after the IRA assassination of [[Lord Mountbatten]], [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth]]'s cousin, in [[Mullaghmore, County Sligo|Mullaghmore]]. On 29 September 1979, he arrived in Dublin, where he gave his first mass. He then addressed 300,000 people in Drogheda, where he appealed "on his knees" to paramilitaries to end the [[The Troubles|violence in Ireland]]:<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 September 2016 |title=Remembering Pope John Paul II's 1979 visit to Ireland (PHOTOS) |language=en |work=IrishCentral.com |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/news/remembering-pope-john-paul-ii-1979-visit-to-ireland-62563642-237662091 |access-date=17 June 2017 |archive-date=2 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402163609/http://www.irishcentral.com/news/remembering-pope-john-paul-ii-1979-visit-to-ireland-62563642-237662091 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Doherty |first=Christine |date=6 January 2010 |title=Drogheda was safe place for Pope to visit |language=en |work=The Independent |url=http://www.independent.ie/regionals/droghedaindependent/news/drogheda-was-safe-place-for-pope-to-visit-27141584.html |access-date=17 June 2017 |archive-date=16 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116053459/https://www.independent.ie/regionals/droghedaindependent/news/drogheda-was-safe-place-for-pope-to-visit-27141584.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=McGarry |first=Patsy |date=29 November 2016 |title=Pope's visit to Ireland will not draw the 1979 crowds of 2.7m |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/pope-s-visit-to-ireland-will-not-draw-the-1979-crowds-of-2-7m-1.2885724 |access-date=17 June 2017 |archive-date=30 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130155950/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/pope-s-visit-to-ireland-will-not-draw-the-1979-crowds-of-2-7m-1.2885724 |url-status=live}}</ref>
<blockquote>"Now I wish to speak to all men and women engaged in violence. I appeal to you, in language of passionate pleading. On my knees I beg you to turn away from the paths of violence and to return to the ways of peace. You may claim to seek justice. I too believe in justice and seek justice. But violence only delays the day of justice. Violence destroys the work of justice. Further violence in Ireland will only drag down to ruin the land you claim to love and the values you claim to cherish."<ref>{{Cite news |title=29 September 1979: Mass in Drogheda – Dublin {{!}} John Paul II |work=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |publisher=Vatican |url=https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1979/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19790929_irlanda-dublino-drogheda.html |access-date=17 June 2017 |archive-date=9 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209141246/https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1979/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19790929_irlanda-dublino-drogheda.html |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

===21st century===
Two decades into the 21st century some of the historic core of Drogheda town has suffered urban decline. Some of the buildings have been derelict for some years and are in danger of collapse.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-02-25 |title=Dangerous structure notice is served on two Narrow West Street properties |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/droghedaindependent/news/dangerous-structure-notice-is-served-on-two-narrow-west-street-properties-35472175.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518105300/http://www.independent.ie/regionals/droghedaindependent/news/dangerous-structure-notice-is-served-on-two-narrow-west-street-properties-35472175.html |archive-date=18 May 2017 |access-date=2020-05-18 |work=[[Drogheda Independent]]}}</ref> There was a 2006 traffic plan for pedestrianisation of West Street. It was rejected at a vote of the elected councillors. They had come under pressure from traders in the area concerned about a potential further decline in customer footfall. But the issue has come up for debate again.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-05-13 |title=Councillors in favour of closing West Street to traffic |url=https://droghedalife.com/news/councillors-in-favour-of-closing-west-street-to-traffic |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530132654/https://droghedalife.com/news/councillors-in-favour-of-closing-west-street-to-traffic |archive-date=30 May 2020 |access-date=2020-05-18 |work=Drogheda Life |language=en-IE}}</ref> When asked, Drogheda residents point out that a combination of expensive car-parking and high commercial rates had a push-pull effect on the town's centre. Shops were forced to close and at the same time shoppers brought their business to retail parks such as the Boyne Shopping Centre on Bolton Street.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-02-18 |title=Planning 'neglect' has made Drogheda a town that has lost its 'heart' |work=[[TheJournal.ie]] |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/drogheda-town-election-2580191-Feb2016/ |first=Cliodhna |last=Russell |access-date=2020-05-18 |archive-date=24 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924175419/https://www.thejournal.ie/drogheda-town-election-2580191-Feb2016/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A substantial root-and-branch approach to renewal of the locality was proposed in "Westgate Vision: A Townscape Recovery Guide". The Westgate area of Drogheda is to be subject to a 10-year regeneration by Louth County Council.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Louth Forward Planning Office |url=https://www.louthcoco.ie/en/services/planning/westgate-vision-/ |title=Westgate Vision: A Townscape Recovery Guide |date=June 2018 |publisher=Louth County Council |location=Dundalk |access-date=18 May 2020 |archive-date=16 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416150705/https://www.louthcoco.ie/en/services/planning/westgate-vision-/ |url-status=live}}</ref>