Louth is a county in the Republic of Ireland, on the east coast, up toward the border with Northern Ireland. It is the smallest county in the Republic by land, though it is not a tiny village — it still has towns, farms, and a stretch of sea. Dundalk is the main town people name first. You write it County Louth on an envelope or in a careful sentence, the same way you say County Cork. Though actually, there is also a town called Louth in Lincolnshire, in England; that is a different place. When Irish geography is the topic, Louth means the county. The name is said like ‘Louth’ to rhyme with mouth, not like ‘loo’. It is a proper name, so it takes a capital letter, and you meet it in news, sport, and travel, not as a word you can put in front of any noun.