Dundalk (Dún Dealgan)

Dundalk (Gaelic; Dún Dealgan) is the Capital of County Louth and one of the largest towns in Ireland without city status. A former industrial centre, Dundalk was cut off from much of its natural hinterland when the 1922 treaty between the Irish Free State and the United Kingdom created the Northern Ireland statelet which left much of Dundalk's neighbouring counties under British occupation. The town suffered economically as a result. However European integration and a revised 1997 Treaty between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom has seen many of the barriers the border once represented being eroded. Dundalk is now a prosperous town with a service and information economic base. It's largest employer is the Dundalk Institute of Technology, a regional hub of higher education. Its population and physical area have both expanded considerable in the last decade.