[1] Built in 1853 to help with the overcrowding of the gaol already in place at Crowe Street - which site is now occupied by Dundalk Town Hall, it was designed by John Neville and cost £23,000 to be constructed.

By 1915 the gaol was not in use but was revived in 1918 to house IRA prisoners, including Stack, Treacy, Lynch, etc., who embarked on short lived hunger strikes, were released and returned to their campaigns, without a great deal of attention.

In 1922-1923 the gaol was swapped by the two Civil War parties back and forth and which led to some disturbances in Dundalk, reflected by some newspaper coverage, however, the major action took place in Dublin and Munster and the north east was relatively free from serious attrition, particularly as Aiken took only a minor role in the conflict.

The Gardaí Síochána originally moved into the Governor's House in 1945, setting it up as a new police station, while Louth County Council used the existing yard as machinery and vehicle area and the cell buildings for storing office equipment, in 1991 the basement of the northern cellblock (male wing) was refurbished to serve as a National Emergency Centre for use by Louth Civil Defence.

On 27 July 1922 , the Fourth Northern Division of the Irish Republican Army placed an explosive device on the wall of gaol along the Ardee