The club was founded in 1903 as Dundalk
G.N.R.—the works-team of the Great Northern Railway. They played in junior
competitions until 1922–23 when they joined the Leinster Senior League. After
four seasons in that division, they were elected to the League of Ireland for
1926–27. They became the first club from outside Dublin to win the league title
in 1932–33 and they won the FAI Cup for the first time in 1941–42. They won
their most recent league title in 2019 and their most recent FAI Cup in 2020.
Dundalk made their European debut in the
1963–64 European Cup as League Champions and became the first Irish side to win
an away match in Europe that season. Their best performance in the European Cup
came when they reached the last 16 in 1979–80. They also reached the last 16 in
the 1981–82 European Cup Winners' Cup. They have qualified twice for the Europa
League group stage and became the first team from Ireland to both win points
and win a match at that level of European competition in 2016–17. The 2021–22
UEFA Europa Conference League was their 25th European campaign.
The club adopted its crest and white playing shirts in 1927. The crest is based on the town's old corporation seal. The current team colours of white shirts and black shorts were introduced in 1940. They moved to their present home ground, Oriel Park, in 1936, having mostly played at the Athletic Grounds in the town centre before that.