Dundalk

Legendary birthplace of Cú Chulainn, who defended Ulster single-handed at the fords nearby in the Táin. A garrison town on the edge of the Pale, and later a border town — which after 1921 made it a place of smuggling, customs posts and, in the Troubles, an uneasy frontier.

Dundalk is Dún Dealgan, the fort of Delga, a legendary Fir Bolg chief, and the name is traditionally tied to the ringfort at Castletown Mount. People were farming the district by about 3700 BC, and the Proleek Dolmen at Ballymascanlon dates to around 3000 BC. The plain around the town, Magh Muirtheimne, is the country of Cú Chulainn in the Táin; the standing stone he is said to have tied himself to before he died is near Knockbridge, and St Brigid is reputed to have been born at nearby Faughart in 451. The town first appears in the Annals of Ulster in 1002, when Brian Boru met the King of Ulster at Dún Delgain to demand his submission. The Norman Bertram de Verdun later built his manor house at Castletown Mount.

Drawn from the History section of the Wikipedia article on Dundalk ↗, rewritten here and adding nothing it does not say; licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Faughart · round tower · 5 km
• Proleek Dolmen · dolmen · 5 km
• Dromiskin · round tower · 9 km
• Inishkeen · round tower · 13 km
• Castle Roche · castle · 8 km
• Moyry Castle · castle · 8 km
• Darver Castle · castle · 10 km
• Killeavy Castle · castle · 14 km
• Narrow Water Castle · castle · 15 km

Straight-line distances from the town centre, from each site's documented coordinates.

• Faughart · Where Edward Bruce, King of Ireland for two years, was killed in 1318 — on the hill of St Brigid's birthplace.
• Monasterboice · Muiredach's Cross (the finest high cross in Ireland, a 10th-century Bible carved in stone) and a round tower still standing after a Viking burning in 1097.
• Cooley Peninsula — the Brown Bull · Home of the Donn Cúailnge, the great brown bull Medb marched the armies of four provinces to steal.
• Ardee — the ford of Ferdia · Áth Fhirdia: where Cú Chulainn fought his foster-brother Ferdia for three days, killed him with the gae bolga, and wept over his body. The town is named for the dead man.
• Knockbridge — Cú Chulainn's death · The standing stone Cú Chulainn tied himself to so he would die on his feet, facing his enemies. Only when a raven landed on his shoulder did they dare approach.
• Slieve Gullion — the Cailleach's lake · Fionn swam in the summit lake for a maiden's lost ring and emerged an old man — the Cailleach's trick. Even now, they say, swimmers' hair turns grey.

All of these are pinned on the Hidden Ireland map.