Louth (Dáil constituency)

Louth is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects five deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs) on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV). It covers the entirety of County Louth and a small area of County Meath.

Louth
Dáil constituency
Location of Louth within Ireland
Interactive map of constituency boundaries since the 2024 general election
Major settlements	Ardee Dundalk Drogheda
Current constituency
Created	1923
Seats	3 (1923–1977) 4 (1977–2011) 5 (2011–)
TDs	Paula Butterly (FG)   Joanna Byrne (SF)   Erin McGreehan (FF)   Ged Nash (Lab)   Ruairí Ó Murchú (SF)
Local government areas	County Louth County Meath
Created from	Louth–Meath
EP constituency	Midlands–North-West

Boundaries

The constituency was created by the Electoral Act 1923, and first used at the 1923 general election.^[1] It currently spans the entire area of County Louth (which includes the towns of Ardee, Dundalk, Drogheda), the smallest county in Ireland, and a part of County Meath including the suburbs of Drogheda.

The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023 defines the constituency as:^[2]

"The county of Louth;

and, in the county of Meath, the electoral division of:

St. Mary's (part), in the former Rural District of Meath."

Changes to the Louth constituency

Years	TDs	Boundaries	Notes
1923–1961	3	County Louth.[1][3][4]	Created from Louth–Meath
1961–1977	3	County Louth, except the part in the constituency of Monaghan.[5][6]	Transfer to Monaghan of the DEDs of Barronstown, Castlering, Creggan Upper, Killanny, in the former Rural District of Dundalk; Ardee Urban, Clonkeen, Tallanstown, and the townlands of: Artnalevery, Ballybailie, Ballygowan, Bogtown, Boharnamoe, Cappocksgreen, Charlestown, Cookstown, Coole, Dowds-town, Glebe, Greenlane, Gudderstown, Harristown (part of, north of the river Dee), Irishtown, Knockcurlan, Knock-lore, Lambtown, Lisrenny, Manistown, Mapastown, Mullacloe, Mullanstown, Pepperstown, Philbenstown, Rahanna, Riverstown, Rock, Scogganstown, Streamstown and Townparks in the district electoral division of Ardee Rural in the former Rural District of Ardee No. 1.
1977–1981	4	County Louth; and in County Monaghan, the district electoral divisions of Drumboory, Inishkeen, Kiltybegs, in the former Rural District of Carrickmacross.[7]
1981–2011	4	County Louth.[8][9][10][11][12][13]
2011–2024	5	County Louth; and in County Meath, the electoral divisions of Julianstown, St. Mary's (part), in the former Rural District of Meath.[14][15][16]	Transfer of territory from Meath East[17][18]
2024–	5	County Louth; and in County Meath, the electoral division of St. Mary’s (part), in the former Rural District of Meath.[2]	Transfer of Julianstown to Meath East[19]

TDs

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Louth 1923–[20]
Key to parties   AHB = Anti H-Block   CnaG = Cumann na nGaedheal   FF = Fianna Fáil   FG = Fine Gael   Ind = Independent   Lab = Labour   NL = National League   Rep = Republican   SF = Sinn Féin
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
4th	1923[21]		Frank Aiken (Rep)		Peter Hughes (CnaG)		James Murphy (CnaG)	3 seats until 1977
5th	1927 (Jun)[22]		Frank Aiken (FF)		James Coburn (NL)
6th	1927 (Sep)[23]
7th	1932[24]				James Coburn (Ind)
8th	1933[25]
9th	1937[26]				James Coburn (FG)		Laurence Walsh (FF)
10th	1938[27]
11th	1943[28]						Roddy Connolly (Lab)
12th	1944[29]						Laurence Walsh (FF)
13th	1948[30]						Roddy Connolly (Lab)
14th	1951[31]						Laurence Walsh (FF)
	1954 by-election[32]				George Coburn (FG)
15th	1954[33]						Paddy Donegan (FG)
16th	1957[34]						Pádraig Faulkner[a] (FF)
17th	1961[35]				Paddy Donegan (FG)
18th	1965[36]
19th	1969[37]
20th	1973[38]		Joseph Farrell (FF)
21st	1977[39]								Eddie Filgate (FF)	4 seats 1977–2011
22nd	1981[40]		Paddy Agnew (AHB)		Bernard Markey (FG)
23rd	1982 (Feb)[41]		Thomas Bellew (FF)
24th	1982 (Nov)[42]		Michael Bell (Lab)		Brendan McGahon (FG)				Séamus Kirk[b] (FF)
25th	1987[43]						Dermot Ahern (FF)
26th	1989[44]
27th	1992[45]
28th	1997[46]
29th	2002[47]		Arthur Morgan (SF)		Fergus O'Dowd (FG)
30th	2007[48]
31st	2011[49]		Gerry Adams (SF)				Ged Nash (Lab)				Peter Fitzpatrick (FG)
32nd	2016[50]						Declan Breathnach (FF)		Imelda Munster (SF)
33rd	2020[51]		Ruairí Ó Murchú (SF)				Ged Nash (Lab)				Peter Fitzpatrick (Ind)
34th	2024[52]				Paula Butterly (FG)				Joanna Byrne (SF)		Erin McGreehan (FF)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

1. Faulker served as Ceann Comhairle in the 21st Dáil from 1977 to 1981, and was returned automatically at the 1981 election.
2. Kirk served as Ceann Comhairle in the 30th Dáil from 2009 to 2011, and was returned automatically at the 2011 election.

Electoral division

Louth population as per electoral division,^[53] for the Dáil constituency of Louth. This population count includes those within the county of Louth, as well as the electoral divisions of Julianstown, and St. Mary's (part) in the county of Meath, as per the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017.^[16]

Electoral Division	Population – 2006	Population – 2011	Population – 2016
Louth	128600	143272	150481
Dundalk (Town + Rural), County Louth	51758	56761	59557
Dundalk Town, County Louth	29037	31149	32288
004 Dundalk Urban No. 1, County Louth	2190	2148	2169
005 Dundalk Urban No. 2, County Louth	1211	1169	1140
006 Dundalk Urban No. 3, County Louth	1400	1449	1710
007 Dundalk Urban No. 4, County Louth	6183	6039	5970
023 Castletown (Part Urban), County Louth	2518	2637	2685
027 Dundalk Rural (Part Urban), County Louth	15440	17620	18514
030 Haggardstown (Part Urban), County Louth	95	87	100
Dundalk rural area, County Louth	22721	25612	27269
019 Ballymascanlan, County Louth	2016	2213	2206
020 Barronstown, County Louth	647	744	746
021 Carlingford, County Louth	1384	1801	2201
022 Castlering, County Louth	935	1012	1034
023 Castletown (Part Rural), County Louth	1421	1573	1622
024 Creggan Upper, County Louth	684	787	852
025 Darver, County Louth	562	568	678
026 Drummullagh, County Louth	1120	1257	1350
027 Dundalk Rural (Part Rural), County Louth	535	540	686
028 Faughart, County Louth	905	991	958
029 Greenore, County Louth	979	1169	1201
030 Haggardstown (Part Rural), County Louth	5769	6303	6819
031 Jenkinstown, County Louth	948	1173	1277
032 Killanny, County Louth	683	799	825
033 Louth, County Louth	1308	1505	1575
034 Mansfieldstown, County Louth	640	807	855
035 Rathcor, County Louth	1203	1352	1374
036 Ravensdale, County Louth	982	1018	1010
Drogheda (Town + Rural), County Louth & County Meath	46306	48951	51577
001 Fair Gate, County Louth	9783	9806	10317
002 St. Laurence Gate, County Louth	3801	4004	4075
003 West Gate, County Louth	5899	6042	6284
041 St. Peter's (Part Urban), County Louth	3460	2161	2099
047 St. Mary's (Part Urban), County Louth	6030	6563	6696
045 Julianstown, County Meath	8289	9606	10139
047 St. Mary's (Part Rural), County Meath	9044	10769	11967
Ardee No. 1 rural area, County Louth	17976	20262	20924
008 Ardee Rural, County Louth	2626	2875	2952
009 Ardee Urban, County Louth	4301	4554	4917
010 Castlebellingham, County Louth	1371	1617	1688
011 Clonkeen, County Louth	545	648	675
012 Collon, County Louth	1380	1770	1859
013 Dromin, County Louth	535	610	629
014 Dromiskin, County Louth	1935	2187	2226
015 Drumcar, County Louth	1385	1526	1451
016 Dunleer, County Louth	2340	2796	2868
017 Stabannan, County Louth	590	620	619
018 Tallanstown, County Louth	968	1059	1040
Louth rural area, County Louth	12560	17298	18423
037 Clogher, County Louth	2494	3031	3237
038 Dysart, County Louth	777	918	925
039 Monasterboice, County Louth	1164	1342	1365
040 Mullary, County Louth	1528	1723	1754
041 St. Peter's (Part Rural), County Louth	4022	6990	7605
042 Termonfeckin, County Louth	2575	3294	3537

Elections

^ *: Outgoing TD

2024 general election

2024 general election: Louth^[52][54]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
	Sinn Féin	Ruairí Ó Murchú[*]	13.7	8,728	8,731	8,732	8,733	8,736	8,745	8,748	8,768	8,803	8,879	8,958	9,123	9,621	9,845	10,201	13,016
	Sinn Féin	Joanna Byrne	12.8	8,169	8,172	8,185	8,187	8,192	8,218	8,228	8,234	8,245	8,318	8,374	8,496	8,933	9,130	9,358	9,912	11,989
	Labour	Ged Nash[*]	11.9	7,594	7,595	7,599	7,608	7,615	7,647	7,660	7,666	7,691	7,747	8,120	8,705	9,252	9,539	9,714	9,833	9,927	10,204	10,573	12,533
	Fianna Fáil	Erin McGreehan	9.1	5,772	5,772	5,773	5,773	5,773	5,775	5,776	5,785	5,796	5,886	6,090	6,159	6,218	6,377	6,463	6,828	6,959	7,118	8,284	8,629
	Fine Gael	Paula Butterly	8.9	5,646	5,648	5,652	5,653	5,656	5,658	5,662	5,666	5,675	5,886	6,091	6,167	6,206	6,299	6,359	6,418	6,433	6,460	8,502	9,062
	Fianna Fáil	Alison Comyn	7.7	4,913	4,914	4,918	4,921	4,923	4,930	4,931	4,936	4,945	5,029	5,119	5,176	5,196	5,335	5,391	5,416	5,426	5,458	5,686	6,412
	Fine Gael	John McGahon	6.3	4,021	4,022	4,024	4,024	4,027	4,029	4,031	4,037	4,051	4,111	4,194	4,231	4,274	4,336	4,440	4,513	4,545	4,587
	Sinn Féin	Antóin Watters	5.9	3,767	3,767	3,767	3,768	3,769	3,775	3,775	3,786	3,801	3,827	3,849	3,893	4,096	4,265	4,325
	Independent	Kevin Callan	5.1	3,223	3,231	3,268	3,273	3,276	3,295	3,305	3,320	3,339	3,604	3,676	3,770	3,883	4,181	5,197	5,258	5,292	5,500	5,682
	Irish Freedom	Hermann Kelly	4.0	2,546	2,549	2,552	2,575	2,612	2,612	2,635	2,695	2,731	2,829	2,842	2,856	2,907	3,608
	Aontú	Michael O'Dowd	3.7	2,330	2,331	2,334	2,336	2,359	2,367	2,392	2,410	2,452	2,519	2,540	2,581	2,657
	PBP–Solidarity	James Renaghan[a]	2.6	1,671	1,671	1,672	1,674	1,677	1,685	1,689	1,708	1,740	1,764	1,855	2,278
	Social Democrats	Niall McCreanor	2.4	1,547	1,548	1,550	1,551	1,555	1,560	1,560	1,563	1,580	1,614	1,783
	Green	Marianne Butler	2.4	1,504	1,505	1,506	1,506	1,506	1,506	1,509	1,512	1,515	1,560
	Independent	David Brennan	1.0	671	672	680	686	689	689	747	773	805
	Independent	Thomas Clare	0.6	416	419	426	432	435	442	451	468	482
	Independent Ireland	Ryan McKeown	0.5	305	306	308	309	319	322	324	354
	Independent	Tracy O'Hanlon	0.4	234	235	239	259	270	279	282
	Independent	David Bradley	0.2	157	158	161	171	176	182
	Independent	Peter-James Nugent	0.2	149	149	149	157	158
	The Irish People	Derek McElearney	0.2	119	121	121	133
	Independent	Alan Fagan	0.2	114	116	116
	Independent	Albert Byrne	0.1	99	100
	Independent	David Carroll	0.1	40
Electorate: 104,799   Valid: 63,735   Spoilt: 675   Quota: 10,623   Turnout: 61.5%

1. Renaghan is a member of People Before Profit.

2020 general election

2020 general election: Louth^[51][55][56]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Sinn Féin	Imelda Munster[*]	24.3	17,203
	Sinn Féin	Ruairí Ó Murchú	17.7	12,491
	Fine Gael	Fergus O'Dowd[*]	9.0	6,380	6,737	6,746	6,752	6,775	6,936	6,980	7,485	10,159	11,282
	Independent	Peter Fitzpatrick[*]	8.6	6,085	6,515	6,703	6,734	6,956	7,571	8,201	8,379	8,988	10,779
	Labour	Ged Nash	8.2	5,824	6,889	6,918	6,926	6,973	7,190	7,545	8,389	8,638	11,659
	Fianna Fáil	Declan Breathnach[*]	8.2	5,781	5,919	5,958	5,975	6,023	6,124	6,178	8,403	8,771	9,625
	Green	Mark Dearey	7.7	5,418	6,113	6,263	6,290	6,436	6,680	7,675	7,917	8,497
	Fine Gael	John McGahon	6.3	4,442	4,516	4,544	4,549	4,560	4,606	4,642	4,738
	Fianna Fáil	James Byrne	5.5	3,911	4,179	4,187	4,198	4,232	4,325	4,355
	Solidarity–PBP	Audrey Fergus[a]	1.6	1,120	2,317	2,478	2,501	2,675	3,028
	Renua	Eamon Sweeney	1.1	794	1,067	1,083	1,092	1,163
	Irish Freedom	Cathal Ó Murchú	0.8	574	1,000	1,041	1,053	1,138
	Independent	Topanga Bird	0.3	243	474	500	538
	Independent	David Bradley	0.4	256	410	417	465
	Independent	Albert Byrne	0.2	145	262	273
Electorate: 113,128   Valid: 70,667   Spoilt: 757   Quota: 11,778   Turnout: 71,424 (63.1%)

1. Fergus was a member of People Before Profit.

2016 general election

2016 general election: Louth^[57][58][50]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams[*]	15.8	10,661	10,774	10,826	10,908	11,096	11,278
	Fianna Fáil	Declan Breathnach	13.5	9,099	9,146	9,220	9,609	9,931	12,192
	Sinn Féin	Imelda Munster	13.1	8,829	9,061	9,103	9,224	9,356	9,563	9,712	9,995	10,992	13,029
	Fine Gael	Fergus O'Dowd[*]	10.1	6,814	6,838	6,943	7,271	7,418	7,586	7,680	8,115	8,827	9,124	9,256
	Fine Gael	Peter Fitzpatrick[*]	9.5	6,408	6,417	6,591	6,693	6,969	7,113	7,206	7,977	8,231	8,931	9,132
	Labour	Ged Nash[*]	7.3	4,945	4,976	5,293	5,472	5,593	5,760	5,895	6,715	7,888	8,454	8,746
	Independent	Kevin Callan	5.2	3,541	3,683	3,701	4,030	4,388	4,592	4,779	5,224
	AAA–PBP	Garrett Weldon	5.1	3,462	3,644	3,690	3,816	4,468	4,586	4,675	5,588	6,290
	Fianna Fáil	Emma Coffey	5.1	3,422	3,442	3,496	3,622	3,819
	Green	Mark Dearey	4.7	3,187	3,225	3,363	3,530	4,099	4,327	4,517
	Independent	Maeve Yore	4.1	2,746	2,814	2,953	3,138
	Renua	Michael O'Dowd	3.1	2,095	2,219	2,242
	Labour	Mary Moran	1.8	1,198	1,211
	Direct Democracy	Anthony Connor	1.0	676
	Independent	David Bradley	0.5	319
	Direct Democracy	Pat Greene	0.2	127
Electorate: 104,696   Valid: 67,529   Spoilt: 749   Quota: 11,255   Turnout: 68,278 (65.2%)

2011 general election

Séamus Kirk was Ceann Comhairle at the dissolution of the 30th Dáil and therefore deemed to be returned automatically. The constituency was treated as a four-seater for the purposes of calculating the quota.

2011 general election: Louth^[49]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Kirk[*]	N/A	Returned automatically
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	21.7	15,072
	Fine Gael	Fergus O'Dowd[*]	20.2	13,980
	Labour	Ged Nash	12.6	8,718	8,942	8,948	8,984	8,998	9,037	9,098	9,404	9,821	10,480	10,658	14,620
	Fine Gael	Peter Fitzpatrick	11.3	7,845	7,998	8,002	8,052	8,069	8,130	8,177	8,475	8,982	9,930	10,626	11,770	12,323
	Fianna Fáil	James Carroll	8.2	5,681	5,749	5,751	5,759	5,774	5,792	5,803	5,987	6,481	6,769	10,711	11,185	11,388
	Fianna Fáil	Declan Breathnach	7.5	5,177	5,245	5,245	5,247	5,263	5,285	5,297	5,373	5,603	6,001
	Labour	Mary Moran	6.6	4,546	4,738	4,742	4,747	4,748	4,808	4,908	5,124	5,436	6,430	6,974
	Green	Mark Dearey	4.7	3,244	3,358	3,362	3,366	3,374	3,421	3,506	3,672	3,939
	New Vision	Thomas Clare	3.2	2,233	2,318	2,324	2,328	2,390	2,456	2,569	3,024
	Independent	Fred Matthews	1.4	957	1,004	1,013	1,015	1,024	1,089	1,207
	Independent	Frank Godfrey	0.8	649	714	727	731	754	781	829
	Independent	Robin Wilson	0.8	536	592	597	598	610	692
	Independent	Luke Martin	0.3	224	289	293	293	300
	Independent	Gerry Crilly	0.3	222	252	254	254	267
	Independent	David Bradley	0.3	174	211	215	215
	Independent	Robert Glynn	0.1	61	65
Electorate: 99,530   Valid: 69,319   Spoilt: 871 (1.2%)   Quota: 13,864   Turnout: 70,190 (70.5%)

2007 general election

2007 general election: Louth^[48]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Kirk[*]	18.5	10,190	10,225	10,400	10,457	11,696
	Fianna Fáil	Dermot Ahern[*]	18.1	9,982	10,020	10,375	10,500	11,321
	Fine Gael	Fergus O'Dowd[*]	15.2	8,387	8,421	8,738	10,208	11,036
	Sinn Féin	Arthur Morgan[*]	15.0	8,274	8,385	8,596	8,836	8,989	10,556
	Fine Gael	Mairead McGuinness	9.5	5,199	5,228	6,240	6,503	6,550	8,847
	Green	Mark Dearey	7.6	4,172	4,296	4,711	5,118	5,225
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Maher	5.5	3,009	3,031	3,045	3,287
	Labour	Ged Nash	5.0	2,739	2,786	2,856
	Fine Gael	Jim D'Arcy	4.7	2,573	2,596
	Workers' Party	Peter Short	0.4	193
	Fathers Rights	Luke Martin	0.3	169
	Independent	Dermot Duke	0.2	127
Electorate: 86,007   Valid: 55,014   Spoilt: 592 (1.1%)   Quota: 11,003   Turnout: 55,606 (64.7%)

2002 general election

2002 general election: Louth^[47]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Fianna Fáil	Dermot Ahern[*]	20.2	9,603
	Sinn Féin	Arthur Morgan	14.9	7,121	7,275	7,488	7,495	7,805	8,474	8,992	9,477
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Kirk[*]	13.6	6,495	6,561	6,768	6,811	6,993	7,644	7,960	9,987
	Fine Gael	Fergus O'Dowd	11.6	5,505	5,540	5,686	5,688	6,098	6,346	7,740	10,175
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Maher	9.8	4,653	4,668	4,807	4,811	4,946	5,018	5,643
	Fine Gael	Terry Brennan	8.7	4,130	4,207	4,442	4,449	4,670	5,394	6,046	6,133
	Labour	Michael Bell[*]	6.7	3,185	3,237	3,388	3,391	3,732	4,117
	Independent	Mary Grehan	5.0	2,384	2,496	3,021	3,030	3,521
	Green	Bernadette Martin	4.2	1,979	2,109	2,306	2,309
	Independent	Martin Bellew	2.7	1,307	1,410
	Independent	Frank Godfrey	1.0	473	502
	Independent	Aidan Mahon	0.6	294
	Independent	Liam Ó Gogain	0.5	239
	Workers' Party	Peter Short	0.4	176
	Christian Solidarity	Michael Maguire	0.2	79
Electorate: 81,952   Valid: 47,623   Spoilt: 651 (1.4%)   Quota: 9,525   Turnout: 48,274 (58.9%)

1997 general election

1997 general election: Louth^[46][59]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	Fianna Fáil	Dermot Ahern[*]	22.6	10,192
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Kirk[*]	12.6	5,667	6,334	6,381	6,544	6,594	6,697	6,881	8,160	9,399
	Labour	Michael Bell[*]	10.5	4,725	4,771	4,829	4,851	4,958	5,236	5,518	5,905	6,230	6,755	7,316	7,430
	Fine Gael	Fergus O'Dowd	10.0	4,486	4,499	4,506	4,538	4,598	4,867	5,066	5,437	5,704	5,871	6,953	7,049
	Fine Gael	Brendan McGahon[*]	9.7	4,346	4,429	4,504	4,584	4,597	4,638	4,859	4,867	5,356	5,868	8,075	8,262
	Fine Gael	Terry Brennan	8.3	3,723	3,776	3,807	3,840	3,851	3,875	4,035	4,050	4,307	4,588
	Sinn Féin	Owen Hanratty	6.1	2,760	2,816	2,890	2,934	3,426	3,465	3,602	3,658	3,813
	Progressive Democrats	Mary Grehan	5.3	2,395	2,536	2,592	2,681	2,694	2,760	3,041	3,256
	Fianna Fáil	Maria O'Brien Campbell	4.8	2,151	2,215	2,221	2,245	2,295	2,474	2,533
	Green	Neil McCann	3.1	1,403	1,428	1,531	1,636	1,685	1,762
	Independent	Frank Godfrey	2.3	1,037	1,045	1,067	1,118	1,167
	Sinn Féin	Maeve Healy	2.0	891	899	916	929
	Independent	Michael G. Salter	1.5	686	695	725
	Independent	Brian Doyle	1.1	475	491
	Independent	Dessie Taaffe	0.2	71	72
Electorate: 71,086   Valid: 45,008   Spoilt: 603 (1.3%)   Quota: 9,002   Turnout: 45,611 (64.2%)

1992 general election

1992 general election: Louth^[45][60]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Labour	Michael Bell[*]	22.1	9,608
	Fianna Fáil	Dermot Ahern[*]	17.7	7,704	7,766	7,788	7,810	7,826	8,003	8,271	8,707
	Fine Gael	Brendan McGahon[*]	15.3	6,672	6,825	6,887	6,942	6,950	7,092	7,211	7,916	8,087
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Kirk[*]	15.2	6,602	6,654	6,666	6,710	6,721	6,948	7,086	7,285	9,835
	Fine Gael	Henry Mount Charles	9.6	4,161	4,344	4,382	4,438	4,470	4,541	4,598	4,750	5,304
	Fianna Fáil	Tommy Murphy	8.9	3,853	4,108	4,117	4,127	4,188	4,306	4,468	4,553
	Independent	Tom Bellew	3.7	1,603	1,663	1,711	1,754	1,768	1,903	2,060
	Sinn Féin	Seán Kenna	3.0	1,289	1,306	1,317	1,328	1,584	1,616
	Independent	Maimie Ahern	2.3	1,017	1,045	1,065	1,100	1,112
	Sinn Féin	Tommy Murtagh	1.0	416	440	453	472
	Independent	Dessie Taaffe	0.7	296	314	354
	Workers' Party	Peter Short	0.6	249	310
Electorate: 65,896   Valid: 43,470   Spoilt: 928 (2.1%)   Quota: 8,695   Turnout: 44,398 (67.4%)

1989 general election

1989 general election: Louth^[44][61]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Michael Bell[*]	19.2	8,375	8,601	9,011
	Fine Gael	Brendan McGahon[*]	17.9	7,812	8,289	8,931
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Kirk[*]	15.8	6,892	6,930	7,151	7,563	8,117	8,198	8,272
	Fianna Fáil	Jimmy Mulroy	13.9	6,052	6,140	6,211	6,441	6,907	6,968	7,013
	Fianna Fáil	Dermot Ahern[*]	13.6	5,924	5,950	6,062	6,500	6,884	6,929	7,018
	Sinn Féin	Arthur Morgan	5.3	2,291	3,042	3,712	3,901
	Independent	Bernard Markey	5.1	2,217	2,324	2,379
	Progressive Democrats	Frank Aiken	4.9	2,146	2,293
	Fine Gael	Richard Brannigan	4.0	1,744
	Independent	Ronald Smith	0.4	159
Electorate: 63,151   Valid: 43,612   Quota: 8,723   Turnout: 69.1%

1987 general election

1987 general election: Louth^[43][62]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Kirk[*]	15.3	7,156	7,197	7,209	7,724	8,115	8,349	11,066
	Labour	Michael Bell[*]	13.3	6,205	6,465	6,842	7,154	7,440	7,628	8,923	9,048	9,191
	Fianna Fáil	Dermot Ahern	12.4	5,822	5,876	5,884	6,314	6,952	7,031	8,580	8,622	10,128
	Fianna Fáil	Jimmy Mulroy	11.7	5,492	5,538	5,626	5,818	5,920	5,970
	Fine Gael	Brendan McGahon[*]	11.4	5,319	5,378	6,035	6,255	7,019	10,037
	Progressive Democrats	Frank Aiken	11.2	5,219	5,276	5,534	5,672	6,171	6,758	6,959	7,467	7,522
	Fine Gael	Joseph Lennon	7.6	3,560	3,579	4,105	4,186	4,282
	Independent	Thomas Bellew	5.8	2,709	2,787	2,800	3,082
	Sinn Féin	Arthur Morgan	5.6	2,599	2,682	2,692
	Fine Gael	Fergus O'Dowd	4.2	1,941	1,964
	Workers' Party	Donnchadha MacRaghnaill	1.2	570
	Independent	Ronald Smith	0.2	86
	Independent	Charles Ross	0.2	66
	Independent	Barbara Hyland	0.1	65
Electorate: 61,991   Valid: 46,809   Quota: 9,362   Turnout: 75.5%

November 1982 general election

November 1982 general election: Louth^[42][63]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	Pádraig Faulkner[*]	15.6	6,793	7,033	7,264	7,419	11,288
	Labour	Michael Bell	14.7	6,435	7,241	7,431	7,629	7,812	8,451
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Kirk	13.9	6,066	6,126	6,750	6,869	8,791
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Bellew[*]	13.7	5,966	6,083	6,450	6,545
	Fine Gael	Brendan McGahon	12.1	5,269	5,325	5,511	7,881	8,197	8,873
	Fine Gael	Bernard Markey[*]	10.9	4,745	4,816	4,932
	Fine Gael	Thomas Donegan	10.9	4,737	4,886	4,935	6,855	7,015	7,221
	Independent	Micheal O'Donnell	4.4	1,915	2,036
	Independent	Frank Godfrey	2.2	951
	Workers' Party	Donnchadha MacRaghnaill	1.5	671
	Independent	Aíne Ní Ghidhir	0.3	129
Electorate: 58,556   Valid: 43,677   Quota: 8,736   Turnout: 74.6%

February 1982 general election

February 1982 general election: Louth^[41][64]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	Pádraig Faulkner[*]	18.6	8,083	8,492	9,016
	Fine Gael	Bernard Markey[*]	18.2	7,928	8,237	8,543	8,562	10,197
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Bellew	14.5	6,305	6,427	7,143	7,219	7,961	8,050
	Fianna Fáil	Eddie Filgate[*]	14.1	6,109	6,204	6,862	7,055	7,391	7,428
	Fine Gael	Brendan McGahon	12.2	5,311	5,406	5,629	5,635	6,001	7,177
	Sinn Féin	Francis Browne	8.5	3,714	4,117
	Labour	Michael Bell	8.0	3,474	4,422	4,928	4,947
	Independent	Frank Godfrey	3.8	1,662
	Sinn Féin The Workers' Party	Donnchadha Mac Raghnaill	1.7	742
	Independent	Helen Corcoran	0.4	183
Electorate: 57,075   Valid: 43,511   Spoilt: 451 (1.0%)   Quota: 8,703   Turnout: 43,962 (77.0%)

1981 general election

Pádraig Faulkner was Ceann Comhairle at the dissolution of the 21st Dáil and therefore deemed to be returned automatically. The constituency was treated as a three-seater for the purposes of calculating the quota.

1981 general election: Louth^[40][65]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fianna Fáil	Pádraig Faulkner[*]	N/A	Returned automatically
	Anti H-Block	Paddy Agnew	18.3	8,368	8,846	8,998	9,525	9,841	10,409	10,814
	Fianna Fáil	Eddie Filgate[*]	12.7	5,823	5,914	7,235	7,308	7,553	11,076	11,325
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Bellew	11.6	5,314	5,413	5,672	5,794	6,059
	Fianna Fáil	John Connor	10.7	4,920	5,276	6,047	6,791	6,812	8,190	8,829
	Fine Gael	Bernard Markey	10.3	4,694	4,810	5,007	5,258	8,316	8,513	13,315
	Fine Gael	Brendan McGahon	10.1	4,612	4,723	4,770	4,932
	Fine Gael	Dick Branigan	9.6	4,372	4,624	4,687	5,548	6,463	6,651
	Fianna Fáil	Nicholas McCabe	6.1	2,804	2,887
	Labour	Michael Bell	5.5	2,515	3,128	3,147
	Independent	Frank Godfrey	2.6	1,210
	Sinn Féin The Workers' Party	Donnchadha Mac Raghnaill	1.7	785
	Labour	James McArdle	0.8	346
Electorate: 57,075   Valid: 45,763   Spoilt: 514 (1.1%)   Quota: 11,441   Turnout: 46,277 (81.1%)

1977 general election

1977 general election: Louth^[39][66]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Fianna Fáil	Pádraig Faulkner[*]	24.0	10,244
	Fine Gael	Paddy Donegan[*]	22.2	9,455
	Fianna Fáil	Eddie Filgate	14.0	5,954	6,662	6,693	6,742	6,788	6,841	7,019	7,098	7,454	8,096
	Fianna Fáil	Joseph Farrell[*]	12.7	5,402	6,197	6,227	6,333	6,387	6,438	6,477	6,574	6,942	7,956
	Independent	Jimmy Bellew	5.9	2,523	2,548	2,592	2,647	2,776	2,992	3,099	3,307	3,778
	Sinn Féin The Workers' Party	Donnchadha MacRaghnaill	4.4	1,894	1,951	1,980	2,228	2,268	2,300	2,353	2,972
	Fine Gael	Bernard Markey	4.0	1,718	1,734	2,000	2,032	2,086	2,643	4,002	4,520	4,862	5,764
	Labour	Fergus O'Dowd	3.0	1,289	1,330	1,395	1,583	2,019	2,093	2,175
	Fine Gael	Hugh McGahon	2.9	1,252	1,259	1,376	1,385	1,456
	Fine Gael	Joseph Lennon	2.9	1,241	1,253	1,539	1,570	1,656	2,053
	Labour	Frank Carney	2.1	908	917	944	959
	Independent	Frank Godfrey	1.8	751	798	831
Electorate: 53,895   Valid: 42,631   Quota: 8,527   Turnout: 79.1%

1973 general election

1973 general election: Louth^[38][67]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fianna Fáil	Pádraig Faulkner[*]	29.6	9,256
	Fine Gael	Paddy Donegan[*]	21.7	6,787	6,881	6,939	6,969	7,036	7,276	7,383
	Fianna Fáil	Joseph Farrell	21.6	6,767	7,999
	Fine Gael	Brid O'Rourke	11.3	3,532	3,558	3,575	3,587	3,672	3,856	3,877
	Labour	Paul Callan	8.2	2,577	2,603	2,634	2,659	2,730	3,394	3,436
	Sinn Féin (Official)	Donnchadha MacRaghnaill	4.6	1,450	1,474	1,501	1,546	1,730
	Aontacht Éireann	Míceál O'Donnell	1.5	472	482	488	617
	Aontacht Éireann	James Sarsfield	0.8	263	271	277
	Independent	Geoffrey Eager	0.7	210	217
Electorate: 40,278   Valid: 31,314   Quota: 7,829   Turnout: 77.7%

1969 general election

1969 general election: Louth^[37][68]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fine Gael	Paddy Donegan[*]	28.5	8,618
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	24.2	7,312	7,330	7,357	7,429	7,653
	Fianna Fáil	Pádraig Faulkner[*]	22.7	6,883	6,972	7,017	7,136	7,741
	Labour	Paul Callan	9.2	2,800	2,863	3,753	3,929
	Fine Gael	Thomas Elmore	6.8	2,073	2,687	2,727	4,027	5,262
	Fine Gael	Francis Johnston	5.0	1,513	1,757	1,812
	Labour	Patrick Mulholland	3.6	1,077	1,097
Electorate: 38,370   Valid: 30,276   Quota: 7,570   Turnout: 78.9%

1965 general election

1965 general election: Louth^[36][69]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fine Gael	Paddy Donegan[*]	24.4	6,897	8,039
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	23.6	6,679	6,972
	Fianna Fáil	Pádraig Faulkner[*]	23.4	6,617	7,132
	Fine Gael	Patrick O'Hare	16.3	4,605	5,653
	Labour	Proinsias Mac Aonghusa	12.3	3,461
Electorate: 36,629   Valid: 28,259   Quota: 7,065   Turnout: 77.2%

1961 general election

1961 general election: Louth^[35][69]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	26.9	6,869
	Fine Gael	Paddy Donegan	25.5	6,518
	Fianna Fáil	Pádraig Faulkner[*]	16.8	4,288	4,726	4,737	4,934	5,972
	Fine Gael	Patrick O'Hare	15.7	4,003	4,026	4,127	4,315	5,037
	Independent	Peter Moore	10.8	2,749	2,759	2,772	3,220
	Sinn Féin	Larry Grogan	4.4	1,130	1,138	1,141
Electorate: 36,850   Valid: 25,557   Quota: 6,390   Turnout: 69.4%

1957 general election

1957 general election: Louth^[34][69]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	25.2	7,972
	Fine Gael	George Coburn[*]	21.3	6,745	6,750	7,109	7,728
	Fianna Fáil	Pádraig Faulkner	21.1	6,672	6,720	6,897	7,781
	Fine Gael	Paddy Donegan[*]	18.5	5,855	5,857	6,356	6,804
	Sinn Féin	Larry Grogan	9.4	2,991	2,992	3,305
	Labour	James Murphy	4.5	1,424	1,425
Electorate: 41,814   Valid: 31,659   Quota: 7,915   Turnout: 75.7%

1954 general election

1954 general election: Louth^[33][69]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fine Gael	George Coburn[*]	31.9	10,778
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	26.0	8,769
	Fianna Fáil	Laurence Walsh[*]	17.6	5,945	5,999	6,308	6,483	6,957
	Fine Gael	Paddy Donegan	13.8	4,665	6,576	6,580	6,764	8,639
	Labour	Roddy Connolly	7.6	2,576	2,895	2,903	3,366
	Sinn Féin	Joseph Campbell	3.0	1,011	1,068	1,079
Electorate: 41,906   Valid: 33,744   Quota: 8,437   Turnout: 80.5%

1954 by-election

Fine Gael TD James Coburn died on 5 December 1963. A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 3 March 1954. The seat was won by the Fine Gael candidate George Coburn, son of the deceased TD.

1954 by-election: Louth^[32][69]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Fine Gael	George Coburn	43.4	13,360	13,817	16,459
	Fianna Fáil	Pádraig Faulkner	40.7	12,531	12,801	13,432
	Labour	Roddy Connolly	11.2	3,452	3,952
	Sinn Féin	Joseph Campbell	4.7	1,446
Electorate: 41,975   Valid: 30,789   Quota: 15,395   Turnout: 73.4%

1951 general election

1951 general election: Louth^[31][69]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	24.9	7,927	7,981
	Fianna Fáil	Laurence Walsh	24.5	7,792	8,009
	Fine Gael	James Coburn[*]	21.3	6,779	9,984
	Labour	Roddy Connolly[*]	15.2	4,856	5,845
	Fine Gael	Thomas Francis Roe	14.1	4,505
Electorate: 41,646   Valid: 31,859   Quota: 7,965   Turnout: 76.5%

1948 general election

1948 general election: Louth^[30][69]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	28.0	8,589
	Fine Gael	James Coburn[*]	23.6	7,251	7,342	7,368	7,716
	Fianna Fáil	Laurence Walsh[*]	16.6	5,107	5,867	5,912	6,012	6,724
	Fine Gael	Thomas F. Roe	12.5	3,854	3,862	3,955	4,198
	Labour	Roddy Connolly	12.3	3,767	3,802	3,912	4,818	6,879
	Clann na Poblachta	Aodh De Blacam	4.4	1,348	1,356	1,886
	Clann na Poblachta	George Owens	2.7	814	818
Electorate: 40,740   Valid: 30,730   Quota: 7,683   Turnout: 75.4%

1944 general election

1944 general election: Louth^[29][70]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	25.6	7,493
	Fine Gael	James Coburn[*]	22.8	6,672	6,690	6,808	8,310
	Fianna Fáil	Laurence Walsh	20.5	5,996	6,145	6,359	6,920	7,105
	Clann na Talmhan	Frank Jeffers	17.1	5,000	5,005	5,138	6,009	6,725
	Labour	Roddy Connolly[*]	11.2	3,287	3,295	3,559
	Ailtirí na hAiséirghe	Eoin Ó Coigligh	2.7	795	797
Electorate: 39,506   Valid: 29,243   Quota: 7,311   Turnout: 74.0%

1943 general election

1943 general election: Louth^[28][70]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	28.2	8,723
	Fine Gael	James Coburn[*]	22.7	7,005	7,072	7,123	9,035
	Labour	Roddy Connolly	15.8	4,880	4,932	5,190	5,609	6,252	7,527
	Clann na Talmhan	Frank Jeffers	12.0	3,698	3,719	3,764	4,005	4,608	5,071
	Fianna Fáil	Laurence Walsh[*]	10.7	3,318	4,118	4,261	4,392	4,454
	Fine Gael	John Callan	8.7	2,698	2,744	2,783
	Ailtirí na hAiséirghe	Eoin Ó Coigligh	1.9	585	595
Electorate: 39,506   Valid: 30,907   Quota: 7,727   Turnout: 78.2%

1938 general election

1938 general election: Louth^[27][70]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	31.8	9,787
	Fine Gael	James Coburn[*]	27.2	8,375
	Fianna Fáil	Laurence Walsh[*]	20.1	6,200	8,137
	Fine Gael	Patrick Roe	14.1	4,353	4,398
	Labour	Michael O'Connor	4.4	1,351	1,414
	Labour	Anthony Flynn	2.4	740	780
Electorate: 38,665   Valid: 30,806   Quota: 7,702   Turnout: 79.7%

1937 general election

1937 general election: Louth^[26][70]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	31.0	9,215
	Fine Gael	James Coburn[*]	28.2	8,364
	Fianna Fáil	Laurence Walsh	22.8	6,768	8,449
	Fine Gael	James Murphy[*]	18.0	5,341	5,452
Electorate: 38,570   Valid: 29,688   Quota: 7,423   Turnout: 77.0%

1933 general election

1933 general election: Louth^[25][70]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	34.9	10,235
	Cumann na nGaedheal	James Murphy[*]	26.0	7,632
	Independent	James Coburn[*]	24.8	7,282	7,484
	Fianna Fáil	John O'Dowd	14.2	4,175	6,876
Electorate: 36,803   Valid: 29,324   Quota: 7,332   Turnout: 79.7%

1932 general election

1932 general election: Louth^[24][70]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	26.3	7,267
	Cumann na nGaedheal	James Murphy[*]	22.0	6,094	6,101	6,824	7,094
	Independent	James Coburn[*]	20.2	5,594	5,606	6,135	6,501
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Peter Hughes	16.3	4,512	4,523	4,804	5,035
	Labour	David Blood	7.9	2,192	2,235
	Fianna Fáil	Kevin O'Reilly	7.3	2,019	2,293	2,823
Electorate: 36,260   Valid: 27,678   Quota: 6,920   Turnout: 76.3%

September 1927 general election

September 1927 general election: Louth^[23][70]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	29.6	7,881
	Cumann na nGaedheal	James Murphy[*]	24.2	6,425	6,444	6,533
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Peter Hughes	22.1	5,886	5,937	6,010
	National League	James Coburn[*]	21.3	5,666	5,931	7,034
	Fianna Fáil	Laurence McKenna	2.8	733	1,631
Electorate: 36,703   Valid: 26,591   Quota: 6,648   Turnout: 72.5%

June 1927 general election

June 1927 general election: Louth^[22][70]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	National League	James Coburn[*]	26.4	7,093
	Fianna Fáil	Frank Aiken[*]	25.5	6,851
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Peter Hughes[*]	14.4	3,886	4,002	4,007	4,037	4,203	4,489	4,956
	Cumann na nGaedheal	James Murphy	14.1	3,787	3,843	3,845	3,906	3,966	4,391	5,177
	Labour	Michael Connor	6.9	1,867	1,926	1,931	2,164	2,716	3,356
	Independent	Matthew Campbell	6.5	1,738	1,797	1,806	1,906	2,037
	Labour	Thomas O'Hanlon	3.5	930	986	992	1,074
	Fianna Fáil	Laurence McKenna	2.8	748	769	867
Electorate: 36,703   Valid: 26,900   Quota: 6,726   Turnout: 73.3%

1923 general election

1923 general election: Louth^[21][70]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Republican	Frank Aiken	27.1	6,651
	Cumann na nGaedheal	Peter Hughes[*]	23.7	5,798	5,836	6,302
	Cumann na nGaedheal	James Murphy[*]	23.1	5,663	5,677	6,751
	Farmers' Party	Patrick McGee	15.8	3,877	4,021	4,784
	Labour	Cathal O'Shannon[*]	10.3	2,517	2,845
Electorate: 38,548   Valid: 24,506   Quota: 6,127   Turnout: 63.6%

See also

• Elections in the Republic of Ireland
• Politics of the Republic of Ireland
• List of Dáil by-elections
• List of political parties in the Republic of Ireland