Howth ( ; ;Dublin, Ireland, 1975; Houses of the Oireachtas: The Placenames Order (Irish forms) (No. 1) (Post towns) / An tOrdú Logainmneacha (Foirmeacha Gaeilge) (Uimh. 1) (Postbhailte) This webpage cites: A.D. Mills (2003) A Dictionary of British Place-Names, Oxford University Press. ) is a peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin in Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes the island of Ireland's Eye, which holds multiple natural protection designations.
Howth has been settled since prehistoric times, and features in Irish mythology. A fishing village and small trading port from at least the 14th century, Howth has grown to become a busy and affluent suburb of Dublin, with a mix of suburban residential development, wild hillside and heathland, golf courses, cliff and coastal paths, a small quarry and a busy commercial fishing port. The only neighbouring district on land is Sutton. Howth is also home to one of the oldest occupied buildings in Ireland, Howth Castle, and its estate.
Howth is also a civil parish in the ancient barony of Coolock.Placenames Database of Ireland - Howth civil parish
Location and access Howth is located on the peninsula of Howth Head, which begins around east-north-east of Dublin's GPO, on the north side of Dublin Bay. The village itself is located just over by road from Dublin city centre (the ninth of a series of eighteenth-century milestones from the Dublin General Post Office (GPO) is in the village itself). The settlement spans much of the northern part of Howth Head, which was once an island but now is connected to the rest of Dublin via a narrow strip of land (a tombolo) at Sutton. Howth is located in the administrative county of Fingal, within the traditional County Dublin. The village is bounded by the sea and undeveloped land except along two roads, one rising towards the Summit, one running at sea level near the coast, towards Sutton Cross.
Howth is at the end of a regional road (R105) from Dublin. One branch of the DART suburban rail system has its physical terminus by the harbour, the other northern terminus being Malahide's station, which is actually on a through line for mainline rail towards Belfast. Under the bus route network for Dublin overseen by the National Transport Authority, Dublin Bus serves Howth with route H3, and the local route 290 which goes over the hill and through Sutton to Sutton DART station. For decades prior to 2021, Howth was served by the 31 series of routes. There was previously also a tram service.
Howth, in addition to its fishery harbour, hosts a substantial marina, and seasonal boat service to the uninhabited Ireland's Eye. Howth is also a waypoint for aircraft approaching Dublin Airport.
Etymology The Irish name for Howth is Binn Éadair, meaning Éadar's Peak or Hill. In Old Irish, the name is recorded as Etar, which was first plundered by the Vikings around 819. One of the possible origins of the Irish name is from Étar, wife of one of the five Fir Bolg chieftains who is reported to have died at Howth.
The name Howth is thought to be of Norse origin, perhaps being derived from the Old Norse Hǫfuð ("head" in English). Norse vikings colonised the eastern shores of Ireland and built the settlement of Dyflinn (one of two settlements which became Dublin) as a strategic base between Scandinavia and the Mediterranean.
History
On the grounds of Howth Castle is a 3000 year old dolmen tomb known as Aideen's Grave. According to legend it is the resting place of the mythological figure Aideen. This legend is the subject of the poem 'Aideen's Grave' by Samuel Ferguson.
In ancient history Ptolemy's second-century map of Ireland shows Howth as an island named Edri Deserta (sometimes rendered as Edros).
11th to 16th centuries After Brian Ború, the High King of Ireland, defeated the Norse in 1014, many Norse fled to Howth to regroup and remained a force until their final defeat in Fingal in the middle of the 11th century. Howth still remained under the control of Irish and localised Norse forces until the invasion of Ireland by the Anglo-Normans in 1169.
Without the support of either the Irish or Scandinavian powers, Howth was isolated and fell to the Normans in 1177. One of the victorious Normans, Armoricus (or Almeric) Tristram, was granted much of the land between the village and Sutton. According to the historian Samuel Lewis:
In 1177, Sir Amorey Tristram and Sir John de Courcy landed here at the head of a large military force, and totally defeated the Danish inhabitants in a sanguinary battle at the bridge of Evora, over a mountain stream which falls into the sea near the Baily lighthouse. This victory secured to Sir Amorey the lordship of Howth, of which his descendants have continued in possession to the present day, under the name of St. Laurence, which Almaric, third baron, assumed in fulfilment of a vow previously to his victory over the Danes near Clontarf, in a battle fought on the festival of that saint. The territory of Howth was confirmed to Almaric de St. Laurence by King John....Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Volume 2, p. 10, S. Lewis & Co., London (1837)
Tristam built his first castle overlooking the harbour and the St. Lawrence link remained until 2019 (see Earl of Howth). The original title of Baron of Howth was granted to Almeric St. Lawrence by Henry II of England in 1181, for one Knight's fee.
Howth was a minor trading port from at least the 14th century, with both health and duty collection officials supervising from Dublin, although the harbour was not built until the early 19th century.
A popular tale concerns the clan leader and sometime pirate Gráinne O'Malley, who was rebuffed in 1576 while attempting a courtesy visit to Howth Castle, home of the Earl of Howth. In retaliation, she abducted the Earl's grandson and heir, and as ransom, she exacted a promise that unanticipated guests would never be turned away again. She also made the Earl promise that the gates of Deer Park (the Earl's demesne) would never be closed to the public again, and the gates are still open to this day, and an extra place is set for unexpected guests during formal dinners in the dining room.
19th century
In the early 19th century, Howth was chosen as the location for the harbour for the mail packet (postal service) ship. Construction began in 1807. One of the arguments used against Howth by the advocates of Dún Laoghaire was that coaches might be raided in the badlands of Sutton (at the time Sutton was open countryside). However, due to silting, the harbour needed frequent dredging to accommodate the packet and the service was relocated to Dún Laoghaire in 1809, after £350,000 had been spent on Howth. English King George IV visited the harbour in August 1821, which is remembered today by an imprint of his shoes (see left picture) carved by a local stonemason on the West Pier.
The population was 1,538 inhabitants at the time of the 1841 census.
Irish poet and writer William Butler Yeats was a resident of Howth in the 19th century. There is a blue plaque dedicated to Yeats at Balscadden House on Balscadden Road which was his cottage home from 1880 to 1883. The plaque contains the couplet “I have spread my dreams under your feet/ Tread softly because you tread on my dreams” from his poem 'Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven' (1899). Howth would feature in Yeats writings. The first time is the 1893 essay 'Village Ghosts' recounting the paranormal folklore of the village and the second is in the poem 'Beautiful Lofty Things' (1938); "Maud Gonne at Howth station waiting a train".
20th century to present On 26 July 1914, 900 rifles were landed at Howth by Erskine Childers for the Irish Volunteers. Many were used against the British in the Easter Rising and in the subsequent Anglo-Irish War. Among the members of the Howth branches of the Irish Volunteers and Cumann na mBan who participated in this event were the well-known writers Padraic Colum and Mary Colum. Members of both the Howth Volunteers and Baldoyle section of the Irish Citizen Army participated in the Easter Rising in Dublin city and in Fingal. A strong local branch of Sinn Féin developed in the area and there was considerable local involvement in both the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War.
The harbour was radically rebuilt by the Office of Public Works in the late 20th century (a documentary was done on the much-delayed project in 1986), with distinct fishing and leisure areas formed, and the installation of a modern ice-making facility. A new lifeboat house was later constructed, and Howth is today home to units of both the RNLI (lifeboat service) and the Irish Coastguard.
In 2019, Howth Castle and its demesne, including Ireland's Eye, were sold to Tetrarch Investment group, with an element of the site close to the demesne gate immediately sold on again for development, to Glenveagh Properties.
Nature Natural features Howth Head is one of the dominant features of Dublin Bay, with a number of peaks, the highest of which is Black Linn. In one area, near Shielmartin, there is a small peat bog, the "Bog of the Frogs". The wilder parts of Howth can be accessed by a network of paths (many are rights of way) and much of the centre and east is protected as part of a Special Area of Conservation of , as well as by a Special Amenity Area Order.
The peninsula has a number of small, fast-running streams, three of which run through the village, with more, including the Bloody Stream, in the adjacent Howth Demesne. The streams passing through the village are, from east to west, Coulcour Brook (falling to Balscadden Bay), Gray's Brook or the Boggeen Stream (falling to the eastern end of the harbour), and Offington Stream (passing under Findlater's to the western side of the harbour). Other streams are met along the cliff walks, including the Whitewater Brook, with a tributary in a sunken area of plants and ponds, and then the Balsaggart Stream.Dublin: 2013, Doyle, J.W., "Ten Dozen Waters: The Rivers of County Dublin" - 8th edition
The island of Ireland's Eye, part of the Special Area of Conservation, lies about a kilometre north of Howth harbour, with Lambay Island some 5 km further to the north. A Martello tower exists on each of these islands with another tower overlooking Howth harbour (opened as a visitor centre and Ye Olde Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio on 8 June 2001) and another tower at Red Rock, Sutton. These are part of a series of towers built around the coast of Ireland during the 19th century.
Special amenity area order (SAAO)