The Archaeological Monuments of Louth

Louth is a long settled place with evidence of human settlement dating back to at least 6000BC. Over 2,000 field monuments are known in the county. Amongst these, the enigmatic Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age rock-art sites in the north-east of the county are particularly notable. For the Early Medieval Period (AD 400-1200), Louth possesses perhaps the densest concentration of artificial caves or souterrains in Ireland which are concentrated between the Fane and Castletown Rivers. Finally, the county's medieval fortifications are also notable, both in terms of castle sites such as that at Roche, and town defences such as those at Drogheda, Carlingford and Ardee.