Christopher St Lawrence, 10th Baron Howth (c. 1568–1619) was an Irish statesman and soldier of the Elizabethan and Jacobean era. His personal charm made him a favourite of two successive English monarchs, and he was also a soldier of great courage and some ability, who fought under the Earl of Essex and Lord Mountjoy during the Nine Years' War. However, his bitter quarrels with the Lord Deputy of Ireland, his feuds with other leading families of the Anglo-Irish Pale, and his suspected involvement in the conspiracy which led to the Flight of the Earls, damaged his reputation. He is best remembered for the legend that he was kidnapped by the "Pirate Queen" Granuaile when he was a small boy.
Early life He was born about 1568, the eldest son of Nicholas, 9th Baron Howth, and his first wife Margaret, fifth daughter of Sir Christopher Barnewall of Turvey by his wife Marion Sherle. According to the legend of Granuaile he spent his childhood at Howth Castle, although his parents lived for some years at Platten in Meath. While his father was a devout and open Roman Catholic, at a time when it was politically dangerous to admit to such beliefs, the son converted to the Protestant faith sometime before 1605: his enemies maintained this was purely a matter of expediency, not religious conviction. Certainly, in later years he was happy to form an alliance with the Catholic nobility and seems to have briefly returned to the Catholic faith in 1606–7.Clavin, Terry "St Lawrence, Christopher" Dictionary of Irish Biography Cambridge University Press
Granuaile According to a celebrated legend, which probably has some basis in fact, in about the year 1576 Granuaile, the so-called Pirate Queen of Galway, arrived unannounced at Howth Castle at dinner-time, only to find the gates barred. Annoyed at the discourtesy, she took young Christopher hostage until his family apologised. To make amends, the Howth family pledged that in future the castle gates would always be open at dinner-time, and that an extra place would always be set at table for unexpected guests.Ball, F. Elrington, History of Dublin Volume 5, Alexander Thom and Co. Dublin 1917 pp. 68-107
Soldier Christopher acquired a considerable reputation as a soldier, and was active on the Government side throughout the Nine Years' War, the most serious threat to the authority of the English Crown in Ireland for several generations: the rebellion was led by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.
In 1595 Christopher accompanied his father on an expedition against the O'Byrnes of Wicklow, and showed his courage by capturing two men. Subsequently, he spent two years in England where he was knighted. He returned to Ireland with Sir Conyers Clifford in 1597, and was given a company of cavalry. He spent much time in Offaly keeping the O'Connor clan in check: in addition, he was appointed commander of the garrison of Cavan, with power to execute martial law, and was praised for his good services there.
Friendship with the Earl of Essex
When Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, arrived in Ireland to put down the rebellion of Hugh O'Neill, (a task in which he was to fail), Christopher served with him and became a personal friend. He distinguished himself at Athy by swimming the river Barrow to retrieve some stolen horses, and returned with the horses and the heads of two thieves. He was present at the siege of Cahir Castle, and again distinguished himself by repelling a sortie by the garrison. He also accompanied Essex on his ill-fated expedition to Ulster. Essex wrote of him as a "dear and worthy friend" and chose him as one of his few companions for his disastrous return to the English Court, after he had agreed peace terms with Hugh O'Neill, thus effectively conceding the Crown's surrender to O'Neill.
Christopher had already gained a reputation for being quarrelsome and hot-tempered: in October 1598 he was rumoured to have murdered Sir Samuel Bagenal over a trifling insult, though the story has no basis in fact.Norman Egbert McClure, The Letters of John Chamberlain, 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), pp. 49, 52. It is likely that he did offer to fight Essex's main opponents at Court, Sir Robert Cecil and Lord Grey de Wilton, and caused controversy when he publicly pledged Essex's health. On his first appearance in Court, he was so drunk that he was arrested overnight. Summoned before the Privy Council on the charge of having threatened Cecil, he denied it and was let off with an order to return to Ireland. To the jibe that he was an Irishman, he replied with unexpected dignity with a description of the awkward position of the Anglo-Irish: "an Irishman in England, an Englishman in Ireland", and asked that he be judged only for his service to the Crown. Elizabeth I consented to receive him, and though she scolded him for his "scornful journey", he clearly made a good impression on her. She granted his request to postpone his return, ordered payment of his arrears of wages, and on his return to Ireland she wrote that he was one who was "well deserved in her service". He was also reconciled with Robert Cecil.
Service with Mountjoy In 1600 he was sent to assist Sir George Carew in his military campaign in Connaught. His reputation as a soldier grew, but so did his reputation for violence: he was said to have engaged in a brawl with Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond and Donogh O'Brien, 4th Earl of Thomond. The supposed cause was that Christopher was over-friendly with Ormond's wife (presumably this was his third wife, Helena Barry, whom he had married in 1601). The downfall and execution of Essex did not, as might have been expected, ruin Howth's career.
When Lord Mountjoy arrived in Ireland, charged with the task of ending the Nine Years' War, Christopher accompanied him on an expedition against the O'Mores of Laois. In October 1600 he fought at the Battle of Moyry Pass and was wounded. He was Mountjoy's right-hand man in central Ireland during the following months, although he later complained that his services were ill-rewarded. In August 1601 he was in Ulster; when the news came of the Spanish landing he was sent to intercept Hugh Roe O'Donnell, but failed in the attempt. At the Battle of Kinsale, which marked the climax of the Nine Years' War, he was entrusted with preventing the Irish and Spanish armies from joining, and was successful in his mission.
He is next heard of in Dublin, and then briefly became governor of Monaghan. On the submission of Hugh O'Neill to Lord Mountjoy, which brought the Nine Years' War to an end, his garrison was reduced. It appears that he was accused of treasonable correspondence with O'Neill, and wrote to Robert Cecil asking for leave to come to London to clear his name. He has quarrelled bitterly with his subordinate commander, Laurence Esmonde, 1st Baron Esmonde, and was accused, rightly or wrongly, of having illegally hanged an English servant. Complaints about his conduct led to his summary dismissal as Governor of Monaghan. He was still said to be troubled by the downfall of Essex, and also gravely embarrassed by the pro-Catholic activities of his father, who was now openly campaigning for the repeal of the Penal Laws.
Meeting with no response, either to his demands to be allowed to clear his name or to his request for a sign of royal favour, he decided to seek employment abroad, a decision no doubt made easier by the recent break-up of his marriage to Elizabeth Wentworth. The new Lord Deputy, Sir Arthur Chichester, was persuaded to plead on Christopher's behalf with Cecil, urging that he be given employment in Ireland, but nothing was done for him and he entered the service of Archduke Albert in the Spanish Netherlands. Chichester was concerned that other young nobles would follow his example, but in the event, his foreign service was cut short by his father's death in May 1607. He returned home from Brussels, to find that he had inherited an estate severely encumbered by debt.
Flight of the Earls In the chain of events which led to the Flight of the Earls in 1607, the new Lord Howth certainly played some part, though what precisely it was remains a mystery. Even before his return to Ireland, he was aware of a conspiracy involving Hugh O'Neill, Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim, and Richard Nugent, 1st Earl of Westmeath. On a flying visit to England, he revealed part of the conspiracy to the Privy Council, who informed Chichester that he should examine an individual called A.B.
On learning that A.B. was Howth himself, Chichester, who had by now developed a very low opinion of him, was inclined to regard his story as an invention, until the flight of Tyrone and Tyrconnell confirmed that at least a part of Howth's story was true. Since he was clearly involved in the plot to some extent, he was arrested and questioned further; Chichester called his replies "half-witted". His cousin George St Lawrence was prepared to testify that Christopher has been a prime mover in the plot: George was sentenced to death for treason for his own part in the conspiracy, but later received a royal pardon, causing his cousin, understandably, to fear for his own life. He was briefly imprisoned in Dublin and then sent to London. Howth, who for all his faults had considerable charm and eloquence, convinced the Privy Council of his innocence, and won the favour of King James I, although his persistent demands for a pension were rebuffed. He returned to Ireland in March 1608.
Howth's revelations had an influence on the outbreak of the 1608 O'Doherty's Rebellion by creating a sense of alarm about a major conspiracy amongst the Gaelic lords of Ulster. In this tense situation, an innocent wood-cutting expedition by Sir Cahir O'Doherty was mistaken for the beginning of a wider conspiracy by local authorities. O'Doherty's sense of persecution after this incident led him to rebel, and he burnt Derry to the ground.
Feuds At home in Ireland, Howth found his reputation in ruins: as he sadly wrote to the King, the favour which James showed him merely deepened his disgrace in the eyes of his neighbours, most of whom regarded him with deep suspicion. He claimed to be in fear of his life, and to be unable to trust even his few remaining friends.
Unwisely, he proceeded to quarrel with several other leading figures of the Pale. Sir Garret Moore, 1st Viscount Moore, was a connection of Howth by marriage and had previously been friendly with him; but Moore now turned against him, (the precise cause of the quarrel is unclear) calling him a coward, a braggart and a liar. Howth in turn accused Moore of plotting treason with Hugh O'Neill, and, bizarrely, of trying to raise the Devil. Although Moore had undoubtedly been friendly with O'Neill, Howth was quite unable to prove the charge of treason, while the charge of necromancy was simply laughed at. Chichester said that no one would condemn a horse-boy, let alone a knight, on such evidence. The case was transferred to England and Moore was cleared of all charges. Howth was however allowed to go to England, and again his personal charm won him the goodwill of James I, whose fondness for attractive young men was the subject of much gossip.