DROGHEDA (droch'e-da), municipal borough and seaport, on the southern border of Co. Louth, Ireland, on the river Boyne, about 4 m. from its mouth in Drogheda bay, and 3I i m. N. by W. from Dublin by rail. Pop. (1926), 12,688.
The earliest notices call the town Inver-Colpa or the Port of Colpa; the present name signifies "The Bridge over the Ford." A synod was convened here in 1152 by the papal legate, Cardinal Paparo; in 1224 was founded a Dominican friary, of which there are still remains ; and in 1228 the two divisions of the town re ceived separate incorporation from Henry III. In 1412, Henry IV. granted a charter authorizing the combination of the two towns. In the reign of Edward III. Drogheda was classed with Dublin, Waterford and Kilkenny as one of the four staple towns of Ireland. Richard II. received in its Dominican friary the sub missions of O'Neal, O'Donnell and other chieftains of Ulster and Leinster. The right of coining money was bestowed on the town, and several parliaments were held there, including one in when Poyning's laws were enacted. In the civil wars of 1641 the place was besieged by O'Neal, but was relieved. In 1649 it was captured by Cromwell and the inhabitants brutally massacred. In 1690 it was garrisoned by King James's army, but after the battle of the Boyne it surrendered without a struggle. Drogheda ceased to be a parliamentary borough in 1885, and a county of itself in 1898.
From the close of the 12th century, and for some time after the Reformation, the primates of Ireland lived in Drogheda. Its proximity to Dublin, the seat of government and of the Irish parliament, induced them to prefer it to Ardmacha inter Haber nicos. Near Drogheda, in later times, was the primates castle and summer palace at Termonfeckin, some ruins of which remain.
The ancient fortifications of Drogheda have disappeared save that St. Lawrence gateway remains almost perfect, and there are ruins of the West or Butler gate. St. Peter's chapel formerly served as the cathedral of the modern Roman Catholic archbish opric of Armagh. There was formerly an archiepiscopal palace in the town, built about 1620; and the Dominicans, the Francis cans, the Augustinians, the Carmelites and the Knights of St. John had monastic establishments. Of the Dominican monastery (12 24) there still exists the Magdalen tower ; while of the Augus tinian abbey of St. Mary d'Urso (1206) there are the tower and a pointed arch. There is a blue-coat school, founded about 1727, the present buildings dating from 1870. The industrial establish ments comprise cotton, flax and flour mills, sawmills, tanneries, salt and soap-works, breweries, chemical manure and engineering works. The town is the headquarters of the valuable Boyne sal mon-fishery. A brisk sea trade is carried on in agricultural produce.