DROGHEDA (Ir. "bridge of the ford "), a well-built parliamentary and municipal burgh and seaport, in a county by itself of 9 sq.m., on the borders of Meath and Louth, on both sides, but chiefly n. of the Boyne, 4 111. from its mouth, and 31 m. n. of Dub lin. The Dublin and Belfast railway crosses the Boyne here by a viaduct 95 ft. high. There are linen and cotton manufactures, tanning and brewing works, and an iron foundry. It has a considerable trade, chiefly with Liverpool, 140 m. e.s.e., principally in corn, meal, flour, cattle, provisions, linen, hides, and butter. Great quantities of ale are sent to the colonies. Vessels of 500 tons reach the quay, and barges of 50 tons Ply 19 in. up the Boyne to Navan. Pop. '71, 13,510, of whom 12,381 are Roman Catho lics, 855 Episcopalians, 152 Presbyterians, the rest of other denominations. D. sends one member to parliament. The parts of D. on the opposite sides of the river formed
two opposing corporations till 1412, when a sermon by a monk induced them to get a charter of union from Henry I. From the 14th to the 17th century, D. was the chief military station in Leinster. Many parliaments were held in D., and it had the right to coin money. In 1649, Cromwell stormed D. and put 2,000 of the garrison to the sword. Poyning's laws were enacted here. D. surrendered to William III. the day after the battle of the .Boyne, which was fought in 1690 at Oldbridge, 4 m. w. of Drogheda. One of the four ancient gates of D. still remains, and the ruins of many friaries and monastic institutions. The port is under a board of commissioners, whose revenue in 1875 was £3,606. In 1875, 706 vessels, of 116,795 tons, entered, and 402, of 104,524 tons, cleared the.port.