How it started ...
This may be the Wee County (with a piece of coastal east Meath tagged on) but it turned out to be one of the longest counts in the country.
However, perhaps this was to be expected with voters heading to the polls on Friday to make their mark on what was the longest ballot paper in the country, listing the names of no less than 24 candidates.
It was therefore just as well that Coláiste Chú Chulainn in Dundalk, which played host to the count centre over the past three days, had a prearranged discretionary day off to take today.
From early tallies after ballot boxes first opened on Saturday morning, it became clear that Sinn Féin were in contention for a possible three seats in the constituency of Louth.
What transpired, however, is that Councillor Antóin Watters fell short but outgoing TD Ruairí Ó Murchú - who topped the poll - and his running mate Councillor Joanna Byrne took the first and second seats in the constituency late on Sunday night.
The only other incumbent TD to contest this race, Ged Nash was another certainty from early on but it took until the 20th count this evening for the Labour Party candidate to finally get over the line.
The delay in proceedings could be put down to re-check of Count 13 on Sunday to see if Aontú candidate Michael O'Dowd was entitled to a reimbursement for his election expenses (he was) and also a re-check of Count 19 this afternoon to see if Independent Kevin Callan was to stay in the race (he wasn’t).
The battle for the last two seats was always going to be the most interesting part of this contest as things unfolded over the weekend and transfers came into play.
At one stage, there were six candidates in contention for the final two seats. They were Fianna Fáil’s Erin McGreehan and her running mate Alison Comyn, Fine Gael’s Paula Butterly and John McGahon, as well as the aforementioned Watters and Callan.
In the end, Butterly - the first TD from the mid-Louth area in 40 years - and McGreehan were both also deemed elected on Count 20 without having reached the quota of some 10,623 votes.
Interestingly, the constituency of Louth never had a female TD until Imelda Munster was elected in 2016, now the gender balance has flipped and it has three.
How it ended ...
So to confirm again, following a marathon three days of counting, returned to the 34th Dáil for the Louth constituency are:
