DROGHEDA, a sea-port and borough and market-town, locally in
the county of LOUTH, and province of LEINSTER, 57 miles (S by
W.) from Belfast,and 23 (N.) from Dublin; containing 17,365 inhabitants,
of which number, 15,138 are in the town. This place is said to
have derived its name Droighad Atha, in the Irish language
signifying "a bridge," from the erection of a
bridge over the river Boyne, at a period prior to the
English invasion; but no notice of any town of importance
occurs till after that event. At a very early period,
a monastery was founded here for canons of the order
of St. Augustine. It was included in the original grant
of Meath to Hugh de Lacy; but in 1220, when a new
grant of that lordship was made to his son Walter, by
Hen. III., the town and castle of Drogheda had become
of so much importance, that the king retained
them in his own possession, allowing to De Lacy
£20 per ann. from the Exchequer, and the talliage
of the town, as a compensation. At that time the
Boyne, which now intersects the town, formed the
boundary between the counties of Meath and Louth,
and the two portions of the town on its opposite banks
constituted separate boroughs. In 1229, Hen. III.,
by charter, gave to the town on the Louth side of the
Boyne certain privileges and free customs similar to
those of Dublin; and in 1247, the same monarch invested
the burgesses of the town on the Meath side with
similar privileges and inmunities, and granted them a
Weekly market and an annual fair for six days. A new
charter was granted in 1253 to the burgesses of Drogheda
in Louth, empowering them to elect a mayor, to
exercise exclusive jurisdiction, and to hold an annual
fair for 15 days: but the increase of the town was soon
checked by the continued aggressions of the native inhabitants
of the surrounding districts. In the 7th and
24th of Edw. I., the town received grants of toll for
murage; and in 1316, the king granted 300 marks for
the repair of the walls and turrets. In 1317, the burgesses
of Drogheda in Meath obtained a new charter
for a weekly market, with the grant of a piece of ground
on which to hold the same, and the decision of all pleas
except those of the crown. Mandates were issued, in 1319
and 1320, by the king to his justiciary in Ireland, to protect
the mayor and burgesses of the town in Louth in the
enjoyment of their liberties, and to grant remission of
their fee farm rent of 60 marks per ann., to enable them
to extend their fortifications. In 1375, a mayor of the
staple was appointed for both towns; but the calamity
of pestilence, added to that of almost incessant warfare
with the Scots and native septs, had so reduced the
burgesses that, in 1380, Rich. II., granted to them certain
customs' duties for the repair of the fortifications
and the general improvement of the town.
This place, from an early period was, in municipal
privileges and political consequence, always considered
as on an equality with the four royal cities of Dublin,
Waterford, Limerick, and Cork; and of the numerous
parliaments assembled by the lords-deputies, some of
the most remarkable were held here. Rich. II., on the
16th of March, 1394, in the hall of the Dominican
priory received the submission of O'Nial, O'Hanlon,
O'Donel, Mac Mahon, and other native chieftains of
Ulster. In 1407, the inhabitants united with, those of
Dublin in a predatory warfare against their commom
enemies, which they extended even to the coast of Scotland.
Hen. IV., towards the close of his reign, united
the two boroughs into one body politic. In 1437, part
of the fee-farm rent was remitted by Hen. VI., on account
of the devastation of the town and the injury of
its trade by the king's enemies. The Earl of Ormonde,
on being removed from the office of chief governor,
in 1444, assembled the nobility and gentry of the
English pale at this place; and so strong were the
testimonies in his favour, that he was reinstated in
his office. A parliament was soon afterwards held
here; another was also held in the 31st of Hen. VI.,
and, in 1467, a parliament assembled at Dublin was
adjourned to this town, by which the Geraldines were
attainted, and the Earl of Desmond appearing to justify
himself, was instantly brought to the scaffold. In 1474,
when the fraternity of arms was established, the goods
of the men of Drogheda and Dublin were exempted
from the tax for its support; and by the statute passed
in Lord Grey's parliament, concerning the election of
temporary chief governors, the mayors of Drogheda and
Dublin were to have a voice in the council. In an
engagement which took place at Malpas Bridge, during
this reign, the mayor of Drogheda, at the head of 500
archers and 200 men armed with pole-axes, assisted in
the defeat of O'Reilly and his confederates, who had
committed great ravages in the county of Louth; in
reward of which valiant conduct, the mayors are allowed
to have a sword of state borne before them. In 1493,
Lord Gormanston held a parliament here, but the validity
of its proceedings was disputed; and in the 10th
of Hen. VII., Sir Edward Poynings assembled another
in this town, of which the acts relating to the adoption
of the English, statutes and other important matters
have heen more celebrated than those of any other
parliament prior to the last century. In the succeeding
reign, the importance of this place appears from the
duties paid at the custom-house, which; in 1632, amounted
to £1428. 15.
In 1641, it was attacked by the northern Irish in
great numbers under Sir Phelim O'Nial, when a body of
600 foot and 50 horse, sent from Dublin for the relief of the
garrison, was defeated at Julianstown bridge, about three
miles from the town. Though Sir Henry Tichbourne,
the governor, had an incompetent force, and the besieging
army consisted of 20,000, yet from want of military
skill, artillery, and ammunition, the latter were unable to
form a regular encampment; and the siege was little
more than a blockade. The town, however, was reduced
to great distress from want of supplies, but the numerous
assaults of the enemy were vigorously repulsed, and
great numbers of their men, and several of their bravest
officers were killed in the sallies of the garrison; and on
intelligence of the approach of the Earl of Ormonde
with a considerable force, the commander of the insurgent
army raised the siege and retired towards the north.
When Ormonde advanced towards Dublin against the
parliamentarian governors, Col. Jones sent most of his
cavalry to Drogheda, with a view to cut off Ormonde's
supplies; but Lord Inchiquin coming immediately in
pursuit of them, with a strong body of royalist cavalry,
surprised and routed the party and laid siege to the
town, which he soon obliged to surrender. After the
battle of Rathmines, Col. Jones besieged the garrison
placed here by the royalists, but suddenly retired on the
approach of the Marquess of Ormonde with 300 men.
The Marquess inspected and repaired the fortifications;
and foreseeing the danger to which it would be exposed,
committed the government of the town to Sir Arthur
Aston, a gallant R. C. officer, with a garrison of 2000
foot and 300 horse, all chosen men and well supplied
with ammunition and provisions. Cromwell, on landing
at Dublin in 1649, marched with 10,000 men against
Drogheda, as the most important town for opening a
passage into the northern provinces; and after a siege
of two days, his artillery having made a sufficient
breach in the walls, the assault was commenced by
his troops, who were twice repulsed; but in the third
attack, headed by himself, he gained possession of the
town, and in order to impress upon the Irish such a
dread of his name as might prevent all opposition, gave
orders to put the whole garrison to the sword: this
barbarous execution was continued for five successive
days, the governor and all his officers being included in
the proscription, and even some ecclesiastics who were
found within the town were butchered: a few of the
garrison contrived to escape in disguise, and besides
these only thirty were spared from the general massacre,
who were instantly transported as slaves to Barbadoes.
In the war of the Revolution, this place was garrisoned
by the forces of Jas. II., who had a magazine of
military stores and ammunition here; and in the immediate
vicinity was fought the celebrated battle of the
Boyne. On the 30th of June, 1690, King William's
army came within sight of the town and advanced in
three columns towards the river. King James's camp
extended westward from the town in two lines along
its south bank. As his army was marching into camp,
William advanced within cannon range of the ford
at Oldbridge, to reconnoitre, and dismounted; while
Berwick, Tyrconnel, Sarsfield, and some other of
James's generals rode slowly along the opposite bank.
On remounting, a ball from a field-piece concealed by a
hedge grazed the bank of the river and taking a slanting
direction struck his right shoulder, tearing his coat
and slightly lacerating the flesh; but though a report
of his death was quickly spread, William sustained no
other injury than a difficulty in using his sword arm.
A brisk cannonade was maintained from the opposite
bank of the river till the approach of night; and on
the following morning, William's right wing crossed the
river at some fords below Slane, overpowering a regiment
which had been stationed there to defend the
passage, and made their way over a very unfavourable
country to a morass through which the infantry passed
with great difficulty, while the cavalry found a firmer
passage on the right. The part of James's army stationed
near the morass, astonished at their intrepidity,
fled towards Duleek, suffering great loss in their flight.
The central column of William's army now attempted to
cross the river; the Dutch guards, followed by the
Huguenots, Enniskilleners, Brandenburghers, and English,
plunged into the stream near Oldbridge, in front
of the enemy's lines and breastworks, checking the current
by their numbers, and causing the water to rise so
high that the infantry were obliged to carry their muskets
above their heads. One squadron of the Brandenburghers
was repulsed by General Hamilton's horse,
and driven back through the river, and in their retreat
threw the Huguenots into disorder; but the general's
cavalry wheeling through. Oldbridge were cut down by
the Dutch and Enniskilleners, with the exception of a
small party which encountered the Duke of Schomberg
while rallying the Huguenots, wounded and made him
prisoner, on which the French Protestants fired into
the midst of the party and unhappily killed the Duke.
The Rev. George Walker, who had so gallantly defended
Londonderry, was also killed about the same time.
After the conflict had continued about an hour, the
Irish army retreated to Donore, where James had
remained surrounded by his guards; and William, who
had crossed the river, about a mile above Drogheda,
with his left wing, placed himself at the head of his
army; and when the enemy had advanced from Donore,
almost within musket shot of his infantry, he was seen
sword in hand animating his squadrons and preparing
to fall on their flank. James's troops, however, halted
and again retreated to Donore, but there charged with
such success that the English cavalry, although commanded
by William, were repulsed. The enemy was,
however, bravely attacked by the Enniskilleners, supported
by the Dutch, and ultimately by all the English
army, and the battle was for some time maintained
with equal bravery by both parties. But the Irish
infantry being at last defeated, and the cavalry, after
making a furious charge, routed, James and his troops
retreated through the pass of Duleek. In this important
battle James lost 1500 men, and William's army
about one-third of that number. On the following day,
King William sent Brigadier La Melloniere, with 1000
horse, a party of foot, and eight pieces of artillery, to
summon Drogheda, which was defended by a garrison
3 S 2
of 1300 men under Lord Iveagh, who, after a parley,
accepted terms of capitulation, and marched out with
their baggage, leaving behind them their arms, stores,
and ammunition; and Col. Cutts' regiment immediately
took possession of the place and preserved it from
violence.
The town is advantageously situated on the great
north road from Dublin to Belfast, and on the river
Boyne, which discharges itself into the Irish sea about
three miles below, and by which it is divided into two
unequal portions, of which the larger, on the north side,
is connected with the smaller by a bridge of three
arches, erected in 1722. The streets are tolerably
regular, and many of the houses are well built, especially
those in the principal street, and on the quay, which
extends along the north side of the river. The total
number of houses is 2860, of which 1300 only are
assessed to the rates for lighting and watching the town;
for the former, which is done by a gas company established
a few years since, the whole assessment amounts
to £316, and for the latter to £239, per annum. The
inhabitants are principally supplied with, water from a
well at the linen-hall; and the streets are paved and
kept in repair, under the management of a committee,
at the expense of the corporation, for which purpose
about £230 is annually appropriated from the corporation
funds. Of the ancient walls, beyond which the
present town extends, the most curious and perfect portion
is the gate of St. Lawrence, forming a handsome
approach. A public reading and news-room has been
fitted up in the Mayoralty-house, and a newspaper,
called the Drogheda Journal, has been published since
1774. In Fair-street are infantry barracks, with an
hospital for 20 patients; and there are similar barracks
at Milmount. Adjoining the latter is Richmond
Fort, erected abo'ut the year 1808, in which are two
nine-pounders on a moveable platform, a guardhouse,
forming the entrance to the barracks, was
built in 1831, and the mount on which the fort stands
was at the same time further strengthened with
palisades. The manufacture of coarse linen, calico,
and stockings, formerly carried on to a very great extent,
has, together with hand-loom weaving, very much
declined. A very extensive mill for spinning flax has
recently been erected by a company of proprietors, and
is principally wrought by steam power. The tanning of
leather was formerly carried on very extensively, and is
still considerable; and the manufacture of soap and
candles is also on a tolerably large scale. There are
two iron foundries, several salt works, an extensive
distillery, and three large breweries of ale and table
beer, one of which, in James-street, belonging to Mr.
Cairnes, produces ale which is in great repute, and is
exported to England and the West Indies; attached to
it is a very extensive malting establishment. There are
several large flour and corn-mills, of which that belonging
to Messrs. Smith and Smythe, with the adjoining
stores, was erected at an expense of £20,000; the machinery
is impelled by a steam-engine of 50-horse
power, and is capable of grinding 40,000 barrels of
wheat, and 60,000 barrels of oats annually.
The port carries on a very extensive trade chiefly
with Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and
also a very considerable cross-channel trade; the
principal exports are corn, flour, oatmeal, cattle, butter,
and linen cloth; and the chief imports are timber,
slates, coal, rock-salt, iron, bark, herrings, and dried
fish, with manufactured goods of all kinds. According
to the returns for the year ending Jan. 5th, 1835, there
were shipped from this port, 126,380 loads of meal,
42,500 bushels of wheat, 3000 barrels of peas, 37,000
sacks of flour, 2500 barrels of barley, 22,000 barrels of
oats, 13,000 crates of eggs, 600 firkins of butter, 4100
cows, 12,000 sheep, 39,000 pigs, and 500 barrels of ale.
The number of vessels in the foreign trade that entered
inwards, during that year, was 14 British and 3 foreign,
and two British vessels cleared outwards. In the trade
with Great Britain and across the channel, 494 ships,
including steam-vessels, entered inwards, and 462 cleared
outwards; and in the trade with various ports in Ireland,
42 vessels entered inwards and 23 cleared outwards.
The gross amount of the customs' duties,
during the year 1835, was £9476. 19. 3., and for 1836,
£13,382. 13. 2.; that of the excise duties collected in
the district, in 1835, was £75,007. 19. 3½. The
number of vessels registered as belonging to the port
is 40, of an aggregate burden of 3763 tons. A considerable
trade is carried on with Liverpool, between
which place, Glasgow, and this port, five steam-packets,
of about 350 tons each, are constantly plying. The
harbour, for the improvement of which the Commissioners
of Public Works have granted £10,000, has been
rendered much more commodious, and is in a state of
progressive improvement; a breakwater is about to be
formed and a lighthouse erected. The river has been
deepened four feet by a steam dredging vessel, calculated
to raise 1000 tons hourly; it is navigable to the
bridge for vessels of 200 tons', and above it for lighters
of 70 tons', burden. A patent slip is also in progress
of construction, and a large iron-foundry for steam
machinery has been erected. The value of these improvements
may be correctly estimated from the fact
that, within the last seven years, the trade of the port
has been more than doubled. The inland trade is also
greatly facilitated by the Boyne navigation to Navan,
which it is intended to extend to Lough Erne. The
Grand Northern Trunk railway from Dublin, for which
an act of parliament has been obtained, will enter the
.town at Pitcher Hill, in the parish of St. Mary. The markets
are on Thursday and Saturday; and fairs for cattle of
every kind, and especially for horses of superior breed,
are held annually on May 12th, June 22nd, Aug. 26th,
and Oct. 29th, by ancient charter; and by a recent
patent also on March 10th, April 11th, Nov. 21st, and
Dec. 19th, when large quantities of wool and various
other articles of merchandise are exposed for sale. The
corn market is a very neat and commodious buildings
erected after a design by the late Mr. F. Johnston.
There are convenient shambles for butchers' meat, and
adjacent is a fish market. The linen-hall is a spacious
building of brick, containing five halls.
Besides the charters already noticed, many others
were granted by different sovereigns. The two boroughs
continued till the reign of Hen. IV. to be separately
governed by their respective charters, and each had its
separate corporate officers, from which circumstance
the merchants frequenting the town were burdened with
the payment of tolls and customs to both corporations,
dissensions and debates were daily springing up between
the two bodies, and in their contests blood was often
shed and many lives were lost. To put an end to
these evils. Hen. IV., by charter dated Nov. 1st, 1412,
with the consent of the burgesses and commonalties,
united both boroughs under one corporation, and erected
the town, with the suburbs on both sides of the river,
into a county of itself. Under this, which is the governing
charter, the style of the corporation is the
"Mayor, Sheriffs, Burgesses, and Commons of the County
of the Town of Drogheda," and the government is vested
in a mayor, two sheriffs, twenty-four aldermen (including
the mayor), an indefinite number of common councilmen,
a mayor of the staple, two coroners, recorder,
town-clerk, sword-bearer, mace-bearer, water-bailiff, harbour-
master, and subordinate officers. The freedom of
the town is acquired by birth, or servitude of seven
years' apprenticeship to a freeman of one of the seven
trading guilds, and by especial grace, or gift of the corporation.
The trading guilds are each under the government
of a master and two wardens annually elected,
and have each a common hall. The town sent members
to the first Irish parliament ever held, and continued to
return two members till the Union, since which time it
has returned one member to the Imperial parliament.
The right of election was vested in the freemen and
freeholders, of whom there were about 936 previously
to the passing of the act of the 2nd of Wm. IV., cap. 88,
which disqualified the non-resident freemen except within
seven miles, and extended the elective franchise to the
£10 householders, and to £20 and £10 leaseholders,
for the respective terms of 14 and 20 years. The borough
is co-extensive with the county of the town, comprising
an area of 5803 statute acres, of which, 844 are
in a rural district in the parish of Ballymakenny, and
the remainder in the parishes of St. Peter and St. Mary:
the sheriffs are the returning officers. The mayor,
recorder, and two senior aldermen who have served
the office of mayor, are justices of the peace under the
charter, and there are five additional justices appointed
under the act of the 7th Geo. IV. The assizes for the
county of the town are held twice in the year before the
mayor and judges on the north-eastern circuit; and
quarter sessions are held in Jan., April, June, and
Oct., before the mayor and recorder. Petty sessions
are held in the Tholsel court every alternate week; a
court of record for pleas to any amount is held before
the mayor and sheriffs; and a court of conscience, for
the recovery of debts not exceeding £1. 3., is held every
Tuesday and Friday before the mayor or his deputy.
A mayoralty-house is provided in the town, as a residence
for the mayor during his year of office, but it is
seldom occupied. The Tholsel is a spacious and handsome
building of hewn stone, well adapted to the holding
of the assizes, quarter sessions, and other courts. The
gaol on the north side of the town was erected in 1818;
it is a neat and well arranged building adapted to the
classification of prisoners, and contains 6 wards, with
day-rooms and airing-yards, apartments for debtors,
and a chapel: the total expenditure, for 1835, was
£379. 11. 11. The amount of Grand Jury presentments
for 1835 was £1988.4.5¼., of which £171.17.11½. was for
the repair of roads, bridges, &c.; £1390.1. 1¾. for public
buildings, charities, officers' salaries, and miscellaneous
expenses; £8. 18. 6. for the police, and £417. 6. 10.
for repayment of advances made by Government.
The town comprises the parishes of St. Peter, on
the north side of the river, in the diocese of Armagh,
comprising 3523 statute acres, as applotted tinder
the tithe act; and St. Mary, on the south side, and
in the diocese of Meath, containing 1435 acres, as applotted;
with part of the parish of Ballymakenny.
The living of each is a vicarage, in the patronage of the
Marquess of Drogheda, in whom the rectories are impropriate.
The tithes of St. Peter's amount to £300,
payable to the impropriator: the annual income of the
incumbent is £512. 2. 6., arising from certain lay tithes
purchased by the late Board of First Fruits, minister's
money, payment by the corporation, and rent of houses,
the tithes of St. Mary's are £105, of which £31. 3. 1.
is payable to the impropriator, and £73. 16. 11. to the
vicar, who also receives a stipend of £30 from Evans's
fund. St. Peter's church, which was rebuilt in 1753,
is a handsome and substantial structure, in the Roman
Doric style, with a tower surmounted by a spire, which
wants a proportionate degree of elevation; it is the
burial-place of the family of Moore, Marquesses of
Drogheda, and contains also several handsome monuments
to Lord Chief Justice Singleton, who resided in
the town, John Ball, Esq., one of the king's Serjeants,
the Leigh and Ogle families, and others; the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners have recently granted £463. 2. 3.
towards its repair. The glebe-house adjoins the churchyard;
there is a glebe of four acres in Drogheda, and
one of 24 acres in Carlingford. St. Mary's church, a.
modern edifice, was erected in 1810, by a gift of £600
and a loan of £500 from the late Board of First Fruits,
and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently
granted £175. 5. 7. towards its repair. The glebehouse,
situated in the town, was purchased for the parish
by the late Board in 1809, under the new acts, at a
cost of £600, of which £461. 10. 9|. was a gift, and
£138. 9. 2f. a loan: the glebe comprises five acres,
valued at £20 per annum. The chapel of St. Mark,
a handsome edifice, was erected as a chapel of ease to
St. Peter's church; the corporation contributed £300
towards the expense, £900 was given in 1829 by the
late Board of First Fruits, and the remainder was raised
by local subscription: it is endowed with the rectorial
tithes of Innismot, in the county of Meath, amounting
to £65, by the corporation, who have transferred the
patronage to the Lord-Primate, who adds £50 per
annum. The R. C. parish of St. Peter is co-extensive
with that of the Established Church, and is the benefice
of the Archbishop; the chapel is a handsome and spacious
structure, erected at an expense of more than
£12,000, raised by subscription. St. Mary's is the
head of a R. C. union, comprising also the parishes
of Colpe and Kilsharvan, and containing two chapels,
one at Drogheda, a large and handsome building, towards
which Michael Duff, Esq., contributed between
£4000 and £5000, and the other at Mornington, in
the parish of Colpe. There are places of worship for
Presbyterians and Wesleyan Methodists, the former
in connection with the Seceding Synod, and of the
second class: the building was erected in 1827, at an
expense of £2000, towards which the corporation contributed
£300. Here are three friaries, dedicated respectively
to St. Francis, St. Augustine, and St. Dominick;
also two convents of nuns, one dedicated to St.
Dominick, and the other to the Blessed Virgin and of the
order of the Presentation, both devoted to religious inDRO
struction. The Dominican or Sienna convent, beautifully
situated in the environs, has a department For the
instruction of young ladies, and a very elegant chapel.
St. Peter's parochial school is supported by contributions,
including an annual donation of £10.10. from the
corporation, and £10 from, the vicar. In this parish are
also one of the four classical schools under the trustees
of Erasmus Smith's charity, who grant to it £280 per
ann.; five other schools, one of which is in connection
with the Presentation convent, a private school,
and three Sunday schools; in the day schools together
are about 1000 children. In the parish of St. Mary
are a public school, in which are about 250, and a pay
school of 70, children. An institution for the widows
of Protestant clergymen was founded and endowed by
Primate Boulter; and an almshouse, called the poor
house of St. John, was founded by a grant from the
corporation; it is a neat brick building, containing 12
apartments. An infirmary, with a dispensary, is supported
by Grand Jury presentments and by corporation,
and parliamentary grants, at an annual cost of about
£400; and.a mendicity Institution for which the corporation,
finds a house, is supported by voluntary contributions
and the produce of the labour of its inmates.
There is also a savings' bank. The amount of Grand
Jury cess levied on the rural district of the county of
the town is about £1080 per annum. The religious
foundations of this place were anciently very numerous,
and of several there are still some remains. On the
north side of the river are those of the Augustinian
priory, of which the steeple is standing; it is more generally
called the old abbey, from its remote antiquity,
having, it is supposed, been founded by St. Patrick,
who it is said baptized his converts at a well within its
precincts, which, previously to its late enclosuie, bore
his name; the old abbey experienced many injuries
from its Irish and Danish assailants, but was rebuilt
and endowed by the English in 1226. On the road
leading to Collon, near the town, is a stone called
Clough Patrick, or St. Patrick's stone, on which he
prayed; in commemoration of which, the marks of his
knees and staff were chiselled in the stone, and are yet
to be traced. The hospital of St. Mary was founded
early in the 15th century, for sick and infirm persons,
by Ursus de Swemele, and was afterwards occupied by
Crouched friars of the order of St. Augustine. The
priory of St. Lawrence, near the gate of that name, is
said to have been founded by the mayor and burgesses.
The Dominican abbey, founded in 1224, by Lucas de
Netterville, Archbishop of Armagh, afterwards became
a house of great celebrity; it was proposed as the seat
of an intended university, and after the dissolution was
granted to Walter Dowdall and Edw. Becke. The Grey
friary was founded in the 13th century, either by the
family of D'Arcy or that of Plunket, and was, in 1518,
reformed by the Observantine friars, and on its dissolution
granted to Gerald Aylmer. The Augustine friary
was founded in the reign of Edw. I., probably by the
Brandon family; and there were two smaller foundations,
known as the houses of St. James and St.Bennet.
On the opposite side of the river was the priory or hospital
of St. John, for Crouched friars, a cell to the priory
of Kilnaainham, supposed to have been founded by
Walter de Lacy, a great part of the revenue of which
was, after the dissolution, granted by Edw. VI. To
James Sedgrave; and also the Carmelite friary, founded
by the inhabitants, and which, with the houses of St.
Mary, St. Lawrence, and the Augustinian friary, were, at
the dissolution, given to the corporation. There was
also a Franciscan monastery, of which the founder and
history are not known. There are at present some remains
of the old church of St. Mary, and of the Dominican
abbey, in which was interred Patrick O'Scanlain,
Archbishop of Armagh, in 1270. The abbey was dedicated
to St. Mary Magdalene, and its majestic remains
consist of a square tower, in the battlement of
which is a breach, said to have been made by Cromwell's
cannon. It was enacted by the Irish parliament,
in 1465, that a university, enjoying the same
privileges and immunities as that of Oxford, should be
established at this place, but the design was not carried
into execution. The Archbishops of Armagh formerly
had a palace in the town for their accommodation while
attending their parliamentary duties. Divers remains
of earthworks, and traces of military operations, are
still to be seen at several of the stations which were
occupied by Cromwell during the parliamentary war.
William of Drogheda, a writer on civil law in the 14th
century, and James Miles, author of two works on. religion
and one on music, and who died a member of the
Franciscan monastery at Naples, in 1639, were natives
of this place. Drogheda gives the titles of Marquess,
Earl, and Viscount, in the peerage of Ireland, to the
family of Moore.