St Laurence's Gate and the Town Walls
About
St Laurence's Gate stands at the eastern end of St Laurence Street with traffic running under it, two great drum towers and a linking arch, and it is the single most photographed thing in Drogheda for good reason. It is a barbican rather than a gate proper, the outer defence that stood in front of the actual gate in the medieval wall, and it was built in the 13th century as part of a circuit that enclosed one of the largest walled towns in medieval Ireland. The street and the gate were originally East Street and East Gate; the Laurence name came later, from the nearby hospital of St Laurence. Sections of the wall survive elsewhere around the town, along with the Butter Gate near Millmount, and Drogheda is a member of the Irish Walled Towns Network. There is no visitor centre and nothing to book: this is a piece of the town you walk up to and stand under, best in the low evening light when the stone goes warm.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓The twin drum towers of the 13th-century barbican
- ✓Surviving wall sections around the town, and the Butter Gate below Millmount
- ✓Free and open at all hours, right in the town centre
- ✓Evening light on the limestone from St Laurence Street
Tips
- →It is on a live road junction, so stand back on the footpath rather than in the carriageway for the photograph.
- →The Drogheda Walks map and guide, free from the Tourist Office in the Tholsel and from local hotels, sets out a 4km Walls walk that links the surviving fragments.
- →Combine it with Highlanes Gallery, which is a two-minute walk down the same street.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
Drogheda Museum Millmount and the Martello Tower
The Anglo-Norman mound above the south bank, with a Martello tower on top, the Old Drogheda Society's museum around its base, and the best view in the town.
St Peter's Church and the Shrine of St Oliver Plunkett
The national shrine of St Oliver Plunkett on West Street, holding the martyred archbishop's preserved head, in a working parish church rather than a museum.
Highlanes Gallery
Drogheda's free municipal gallery in the former Franciscan church on St Laurence Street, home of the town's art collection and a rotating contemporary programme.