Louth Ireland

Ardee is the capital town of the rich agricultural countryside of mid-Louth. It was named after the Irish, Ard Fhirdia, a shallow place in the river Dee. Cuchulainn fought with his friend Ferdia and killed him at his place in the course of the Tain Bo Cuchulainn. The Norman knight Gilbert de Pippard is attributed with the foundation of the town. The Pepper families are his descendants. He also obtained a grant of the barony of Ardee from Prince John in 1185 and was instrumental in the construction of the motte-castle on the eastern part of the town known as Castleguard today. History of the walls that surround the town of which only a few remains are left today goes back to the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries

Posted on April 17th, 2008 under Town. Tags: Ard Fhirdia, Ardee, Castleguard, Gilbert de Pippard, Louth, motte-castle, river Dee, Tain Bo Cuchulainn. Comments: None