Where Opposite the Tholsel West Street Drogheda Louth Image Gallery West Street (opposite The Tholsel) sign map What is a Tholsel? This is the centre of Drogheda. The were two boroughs of Drogheda, one north of the River Boyne in the parish of St Peter, the other to the south of the river in the parish of St Mary. This was the centre of the north borough. When the boroughs were united in 1412 this became the centre of Drogheda. The first recorded market was held here in 1366. By then there was a Tholsel, a building that could have been used for any number of public, civic and commercial functions. It could accommodate meetings of councillors and court sessions, operate as a market house, and as a prison. The sign depicts a good image of the Tholsel that was substantially rebuilt in 1658. It was on the site of the present Tholsel, and its two facades are shown on an engraving on Joseph Ravell’s map of 1749. It was a timber structure with battlemented walls and a big square corner tower that dominated the town. A gallery, where the merchants gathered in public view, separated the prison on the ground floor from the public offices above. Deemed unfit for use in 1763, the original Tholsel was demolished, and the council and courts moved temporarily to the mayoralty building (which still stands on The Mall). The builder and architect George Darley produced a winning design for a new Tholsel (the one we see today, completed in 1770) in which the older building was reinvented in a stately classical idiom. It is entirely at home in the centre of Drogheda, and its threestage tower with clock, belfry and crowning cupola is a well-loved landmark. It was leased to the Hibernian Bank in 1890 when Drogheda Corporation relocated to the cornmarket near Fair Street. Drogheda Civic Offices now occupy this premises in the former cornmarket. The Tholsel is now a tourist information centre.

Where Corner St. Laurence Street & Shop Street Drogheda Louth Bathe House The engraving depicted on the sign of Bathe House from the Dublin Penny Journal in 1832 shows that an impressive timber house was once situated opposite the Tholsel. Inscriptions on the building told passers-by that it was commissioned by Nicholas Bathe in 1570 and constructed by the carpenter Hugh Moore. It was demolished in 1824. This view of the Shop Street façade shows a half-basement, ground-floor shops, bay windows on the first floor and a projecting top floor. The carved wooden panels were impressive even to those who had travelled in Germany where timber architecture flourished.

Where Highlanes Gallery steps St. Laurence Street Drogheda Louth From Franciscan church to contemporary art gallery A Franciscan friary was established in c.1240 in the area of the North Mall. This no longer survives, nor does the seventeenth-century Franciscan convent which occupied the same site. What does survive is the church of the early nineteenth-century convent which stands on St Laurence Street. The church now forms the core of Highlanes Gallery. The building is closely knit into the fabric of St Laurence Street and becomes gradually evident. Walking up Highlanes you see the high stone wall of the east end, and then the pointed arch of the door with a statue above, viewed from St Laurence Street. Inside, elements of the church such as the stained-glass windows and the Gothic reredos are fused with the new gallery spaces. The church was built in stages: main church, 1830; gallery, 1835; bell tower, 1842. The Franciscans gifted the church to the people of Drogheda in 2000. Highlanes Gallery opened in 2006. The Highlanes Gallery is both the Municipal Gallery of Drogheda and a Visual Arts Centre. On view, among other things, are the prestigious civic ceremonial sword and mace presented to Drogheda Corporation by William III after the Battle of the Boyne, Gabriele Ricciardelli’s informative mideighteenth-century views of the town and the remarkable collection of paintings belonging to the municipality. There is also a regular programme of temporary art exhibitions. A reminder of Drogheda’s Viking Past The lane you see to the left, now ‘Highlanes’ was once known as ‘Keyser’s Lane’ (also spelled Kezer or Keizer), it connects Bachelors Lane with St Laurence’s Street. The name is believed to derive from Old Norse keisa, meaning “bend”, perhaps a reference to the steep slope of the hill or the curve of the river, and generally applies to a street which runs from the medieval town centre down to the quays or harbour.

Where Opposite Highlanes Gallery St. Laurence Street Drogheda Louth Laurence Shopping Centre map sign St Laurence Street forms, with West Street, the main east-west axis of the medieval town. A gently curving street, St Laurence Street stretches between the defensive medieval towers of St Laurence’s Gate and the urbane cupola of the mid-eighteenth century Tholsel. In 1616 the Archbishop of Armagh built his palace (which has now gone) next to the gate. Over a hundred years later when the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Henry Singleton, built his Palladian house next door (c.1740), the archbishop’s palace, with its irregular windows and gables, looked old fashioned. Although Singleton’s house and the equally impressive house of his other neighbour, Mr Clarke, the schoolmaster of Drogheda Free School (later Drogheda Grammar School) on St Laurence Street were demolished in 1989, many of the Georgian terraced houses, built by Drogheda merchants in the eighteenth century, survive. They transformed what became a wider and more regular street with their tall facades, each with an elegant pedimented doorway. In the nineteenth century the street was enlivened with more highly decorated commercial and community buildings. There is the former Belfast Bank (south side of St Laurence Street, at the Tholsel end, now a commercial building, 48 St Laurence Street) with its pairs of polished granite colonettes and granite bosses. The Bank of Ireland on the north side of St Laurence Street, is a palazzo built in 1876. There is also Whitworth Hall, built on part of the site once occupied by the archbishop’s palace. Whitworth Hall was built by Benjamin Whitworth. Having established successful cotton mills in Manchester, he came to Drogheda and set up a large cotton mill at Greenhills in 1864. Whitworth Hall was intended as a place of entertainment, education and sociability. The highlight was the well-appointed curved and galleried hall for shows, exhibitions, and amateur theatricals. Whitworth’s architect, William Barre, produced an Italian palace, built in warm red brick decorated with stone and terracotta.

Where St. Laurence's Gate Drogheda Louth Image Gallery St. Laurence's Gate sign map St. Laurence’s Gate (Formerly Great East Gate) Living with town walls This is the external barbican that stood on the east side of St Laurence’s Gate. It is a defensive structure with two strong round towers and a portcullis gate. There was once a timber platform between the towers from which the portcullis would have been operated. If you look to the right down Featherbed Lane, you will see the most impressive remains of the town wall. It was a massive stone structure, with a round-headed arcade on the inner face to support a wall walk. After Dublin, Drogheda was the most important town in medieval Ireland. This meant that the earthen rampart and ditch, constructed after the town was founded (about 1172), was soon replaced by a stone wall financed from murage grants (the first dated to 1234) that matched standards set in England. St Laurence’s Gate, one of the three medieval gates in the north town (the others were Sunday’s Gate to the north and West Gate), is a testimony to the impressiveness of Drogheda’s defences. The walls and gates were maintained until the late eighteenth century. After 1787 the Council Book records their progressive dismantling. However, people retained memories of the gates well into the nineteenth century as the only places to enter and leave the town: “… it is within the recollection of many, how solemnly they used to be closed at the ninth hour, and a watchman assigned to each, through whom ingress or egress might be obtained till midnight, when the keys of all were deposited in the central guard-house, and no further thoroughfare was tolerated until morning.” (John D’Alton, History of Drogheda (1844))

Where Peter's Hill Drogheda Louth Image Gallery Peter's Hill sign map St. Peter’s Church of Ireland Following the history of the parish church of St Peter There has been a church on this hill for over 800 years. The first was founded by Hugh de Lacy, a powerful Anglo-Norman magnate who accompanied Henry II to Ireland in 1171. Endowed by wealthy merchants, the church grew as the town expanded, becoming an extensive structure with at least three chancels, arcaded aisles, and a central tower. There were 14 chapels whose dedications included the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Laurence and St Patrick. Almost nothing remains of this earlier magnificent building except the large stone font at the west end of the present church. It is decorated with the twelve apostles, who stand solemnly within round-arched niches, under which angels, carved at an angle, are poised to fly. Like most buildings it underwent cycles of repair. It was very badly damaged in September 1649 when Cromwell’s troops bombarded the body of the church and set fire to the timber steeple where Royalist soldiers had sought refuge. Many were burnt and many more killed as they fled. The ruined church, partly restored for services, was a stark reminder of this episode for over 100 years until the present structure was erected. The old building was demolished in 1748 and the present church constructed. It has a fine façade of smooth limestone, a poised symmetry and a carefully calibrated tower, behind which the large body of the church is constructed in irregular limestone blocks. Inside, is one of the most evocative eighteenth-century church interiors in Ireland, with its oak gallery and, in the chancel, baroque plasterwork decorated with fruits and flowers, and two great birds hovering on either side of the east window. St John’s Poorhouse Funded by Drogheda Corporation and private bequests, these almshouses were first established in 1540. This building was erected in 1816. In 1844 the inhabitants received £7.10 a fortnight. Admission was a lottery: after petitioning the council to add your name to the list, a ballot decided who would be admitted. ‘The Alleys’ or ‘Widows’ houses’ These almshouses were built between c.1729 and 1739 in four terraces off Church Lane. They can be seen over the wall at the rear of St Peter’s graveyard. They were built by the charity for the widows of Armagh clergymen, founded in c.1706 by Narcissus Marsh when he was Archbishop of Armagh.

Where Magdalene Street Corner of Green Lanes Drogheda Louth Image Gallery Magdalene Street (corner of Green Lanes) sign map A cadaver tomb slab in the graveyard wall Built into the east wall of the graveyard of St Peters Church of Ireland is the cover slab of a tomb chest which depicts two decaying corpses, the original tomb was located nearby. Edmond Goldyng and his second wife, Elizabeth Flemyng are shown covered in shrouds and in advanced states of decay. They are cadaver effigies. Such memorial sculpture was carved in Europe in the aftermath of the pandemic of 1347–50 later known as the Black Death. The carvings have been dated to the early sixteenth century, about 200 years after the Black Death.

Where Magdalene Street Corner of Rope Walk Drogheda Louth Image Gallery Magdalene Street (corner of Rope Walk) sign map St Mary Magdalene Friary The Unification of Drogheda At one time, two distinct (and mutually hostile) towns were located north and south of the Boyne. The St Mary Magdalene Friary dominated this area and in 1412 a friar, Fr Philip Bennet, overcame the historic divisions between the two towns north and south of the River Boyne. Bennet invited both sides to hear him preach on the 133rd psalm: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” Then he confronted his congregation, he demanded three times “Will you be united in the body of Christ?”. Finally, Alderman William Symcock replied “We will!” Bennet seized the moment, and a petition was sent to King Henry IV in London who issued a Charter unifying the town of Drogheda. Thomas FitzGerald In 1467, the St Mary Magdalene Friary witnessed one of Ireland’s most brutal falls from grace, that of 41 year old Thomas FitzGerald the seventh Earl of Desmond, Lord Deputy of Ireland and victor of the Ireland’s only War of the Roses battle. However, he’d also made powerful enemies. These included John Tiptoft, first Earl of Worcester, the Bishop of Meath and even King Edward IV’s queen, Elizabeth Woodville, who is said to have taken offence at some remarks by Thomas, which drew attention to her obscure birth, a subject on which she was understandably sensitive, as her husband had been ridiculed for marrying one who was “not the daughter of a Duke or Earl”. While attending a parliament in Drogheda, Thomas was seized by Tiptoft who, confirming his nickname of the ‘Butcher of England’, had him beheaded. Information provided by Fáilte Ireland

Where Moores Lane Magdalene Street upper Drogheda Louth Magdalene Tower has been a landmark in Drogheda for nearly 500 years The extent and prestige of the Dominican Friary of St Mary Magdalene can be gauged by the height of the surviving tower and its position on elevated ground. The friary was founded in 1224 by Luke de Netterville, the Archbishop of Armagh, and was supported by kings, popes and parliaments: royal alms, papal indulgences and exchequer grants. But when, as part of the dissolution of monasteries, it was closed in 1540 most of the buildings had already been taken down.

Drogheda’s new visitor orientation signage has been designed to link the important heritage assets’ of the town’s historic core.  It offers an enhanced wayfinding experience for visitors, giving a sense of place at key arrival points where you can learn more about the fascinating stories of Drogheda’s bygone times. Enjoy discovering all 21 signs which are focused on a North-South and an East-West axis within the town centre.  Both axes intersect at a cross roads, meeting at the Tholsel on West Street in the centre of Drogheda’s Historic Quarter.  The sign locations are listed below, click on their links for more information. Moores Lane Magdalene Street (Corner of Rope Walk) Magdalene Street (Corner of Green Lanes) Peter’s Hill St. Laurence’s Gate Laurence Shopping Centre Highlanes Gallery St. Laurence Street West Street (Opposite the Tholsel) West Street (St. Peters Roman Catholic Church) West Street (Top of Patrickswell Lane) Old Abbey Lane Old Abbey Lane (Top of Fr. Connolly Way) West Street & West Gate (Barlow House) West Gate (Corner of West Street) St. Augustine’s Church (Shop Street) North Quay (Corner of St. Mary’s Bridge, Shop Street) South Quay (Corner of St. Mary’s Bridge) The Bull Ring (James Street) Pitcher Hill (Barrack Street, Pitcher Hill Steps) Millmount Terrace

"I swear by the oath of my people", said Cúchulainn, "I will make my doings be spoken of among the great doings of heroes in their strength" - Cúchulainn of Muirthemne by Lady Gregory A long time ago, in ancient Ireland, it was prophesied that a great warrior would be born and that his great deeds would give him everlasting fame, but that his life would be a short one. This warrior was known for his terrifying battle frenzy in which he becomes an unrecognisable monster who knows neither friend nor foe, and fights with amazing strength.  The story of a boy called Setanta. Setanta A king called Conor MacNessa ruled in ancient Ireland. His warriors called the Red Branch Knights, defended this land, known then as Ulster.  The king trained them to be strong and brave men. They had to be, as this was a time of war, magic and the supernatural.  In Dundalk (known then as the Plains of Muirthemne), there was a boy called Setanta, he had magic strength and loved the game of hurling and always wanted to be a Red Branch Knight. From a very early age he showed superhuman qualities of wisdom, warfare, magic and poetry.  And, he was to become a legend. Setanta was a happy child who loved to play the game of hurling with his friends. His team always won. When Setanta was only ten he asked his parents to let him join the Red Branch Knights. They told him, he was too young. But, Setanta knew that it was his destiny to become a mighty warrior, so one night, while everyone was asleep, he got his hurling stick and ball and left for King Conor MacNessa’s castle at Emain Macha. Before becoming a Red Branch Knight, he had to get into the boys army called the Macra first. It was a long trip but when he got there, a hurling match was on. Setanta joined in and the other boys did not like it because he was such a good hurler, and was so strong. However the King said he could stay. He liked this special boy. One day, the king invited Setanta to a feast at the fort of Culann the blacksmith. “I am going to a party at Culann’s, do you want to come?” Setanta replied, “I will come later as I am playing a hurling match.” Cúchulainn's First Battle Later that night he set off. It was a long trip. He gets to the fort and finds that not only has the feast already started, but that the gates are locked and an enormous wolfhound is guarding the fort.  The hound attacks him. He hits the sliotar (hurling ball) down the throat of this huge animal and kills Culann’s hound. Culann cannot believe that his hound has been defeated.  Setanta promises to guard the fort “I’ll be your guard dog until you can replace the one I killed.  I’ll be the “Hound of Culann” ["CúChulainn"],” said Setanta. So that’s how Cúchulainn got his name. Soon he became the best guard of all and joined the knights. He was the best Red Branch Knight ever, and in his most famous battle he defends the lands of Ulster by himself, because all the other Red Branch Knights and warriors are under a magic curse.  Read about “ Táin Bó Cuailnge ” to learn more about Cúchulainn, the greatest of all Irish Warriors. Cúchulainn's Battles - The Brown Bull of Cooley - Táin Bó Cuailnge  Cúchulainn is most celebrated in his pivotal role in the epic Táin Bó Cuailnge, the cattle raid of Cooley.  This tale is ranked amongst the oldest legends in the canon of European folktales and highlights the importance of cattle in Iron Age Ireland.  The story recounts the theft of the Brown Bull of Cooley by Queen Medb of Connacht and Cúchulainn’s efforts to ward off this army.  The story ends with his death in a field tied to a stone, most vividly captured in the sculpture by Oliver Sheppard, which was crafted as a memorial symbolising those who fought for Irish independence and was inspired by the Easter Rising of 1916.  Perhaps the most poignant aspect to the Táin is the battle between Cúchulainn and Ferdia, Cúchulainn’s foster-brother and best-friend. Cúchulainn's Battle Frenzy Cúchulainn is renowned for one thing above all else: his berserker battle-rage. When Cúchulainn really became mad, all hell would break loose. First he quivered all over, and then his body began to twist backwards. His knees and shins shifted themselves to the back, as did the frontal sinews of his neck, where they protruded out like lumps. One eye receded back into his head, and the other bulged out upon his cheek. His mouth widened until it met his ears, and sparks flew out of it.  His heart pounded as loud as a great metal drum, and his locks stood up on end, with a spark of flame at the end of every hair.  A great horn jutted out of his forehead, and a vast spurt of black blood jetted up from his skull, where it spread out like a cloud of dark gloom over the battlefield, not a pretty sight.

An Bradán Feasa — The Salmon of Knowledge Fionn MacCumhaill - also known as Finn McCool, became the leader of Na Fianna, a band of warriors responsible for the safety of the High King of Ireland. His fame is most notable in relation to two stories The Salmon of Knowledge and his role in The Pursuit of Diarmaid and Grainne.  The Salmon of Knowledge (in Irish, An Bradán Feasa) is a creature from the Fenian Cycle of Irish Mythology.   According to Irish mythology the first thing to ever come into creation was a hazel tree, and in it's branches was contained all the knowledge of the universe. This hazel tree flourished over the Well of Wisdom (Tobar Segais) within which lived a great speckled salmon. The story goes that the salmon ate the hazel nuts which on one occasion fell into the well, thus acquiring all the wisdom of the universe. It was foretold that the first person to catch and eat the salmon would gain this knowledge and that a man by the name of Fionn would be the one to do so. Nonetheless, many tried and failed, until a poet named Finnegas having spent seven years fishing the Boyne caught it. Finnegas instructed his apprentice, a young boy named Deimne Maol, to prepare it for him. Deimne burned his thumb bursting a blister on the cooking salmon.  Instinctively he put his thumb into his mouth to ease the pain and in an instant acquired all its knowledge. When Dimne brought the cooked meal to Finnegas, his master saw something in the boy's eyes that had not been there before. When asked by Finnegas, Deimne denied that he had eaten of the fish.  When pressed, he admitted his accidental taste. What the old poet hadn't known was that Deimne had another name, given to him by his mother - Fionn, meaning fair haired one. It was this incredible knowledge and wisdom gained from the Salmon of Knowledge that allowed Fionn mac Cumhaill to become the leader of the Fianna, the famed heroes of Irish myth. He was killed at Áth Brea or Ford of Brea on the Boyne.