Carlingford Ireland

We stopped there to break up the drive from Belfast to Dublin a few years ago and liked it enough to extend what was meant to be a quick coffee break into a several hour visit. The village itself is quite pretty, with several quaint little tea rooms to relax in and have breakfast or lunch. A section of the old 12th century city wall still exists, with one of the gates (called the Tholsel) marking the entrance into the town proper ... which will take you all of 30 minutes to walk from end to end. There's an old priory at one end of town and the remains of King John's castle at the other - located on a picturesque point of land overlooking both the Lough and the town itself. The castle was built not so much to protect the town from Viking raids as to protect the English inhabitants from the Irish in the surrounding countryside.
It's location would probably be convenient to Newgrange, the Hill of Tara and the Boyne Valley to the south and to Tollymore Forest Park to the north - which I believe was a Game of Thrones film site.
It is very much an off-the-beaten path kind of place with not a lot to do in the evening except enjoy the quiet, so if that's your thing it would make for a good base I suppose. If you're interested in visiting the historical sites to the south you might be better advised to stay somewhere near Drogheda.

Thank you, Robert, I very much appreciate the input.

We stayed in Drogheda at the D Hotel a few years ago. The hotel is quite modern and has parking and a good restaurant. Drogheda is less than an hour's drive to the Dublin airport and the town was a convenient base for visiting Newgrange, Hill of Tara, and Monasterboice ruined monastery.