Howth is a village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay.
Earl of Howth was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1767 for Thomas St Lawrence, 15th Baron Howth, who was elevated to Viscount St Lawrence at the same time, also in the Peerage of Ireland. The St Lawrence family descended from Christopher St Lawrence who was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Howth in about 1425. The third and fourth Barons both served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The family's origins are thought to go back to Almeric Tristram, a liegeman of the Anglo-Irish knight John de Courcy, who conquered Howth in 1177. The St Lawrence family claimed significant prerogative rights as Lords of Howth over the whole peninsula, and were prepared to maintain them even against the English Crown.
Howth Castle and estate lie just outside the village of Howth, County Dublin in Ireland, in the administration of Fingal County Council. The castle was the ancestral home of the line of the St Lawrence family that had held the area since the Norman Invasion of 1180, and held the title of Lord of Howth until circa 1425, the Baron Howth to 1767, then Earl of Howth until 1909. The castle and estate are held since 1909 by their distaff heirs, the Gaisford-St Lawrence family.
Events from the year 1767 in Ireland.
William Ulick Tristram St Lawrence, 4th Earl of Howth KP was an Irish peer, styled Viscount St Lawrence until 1874. He became Earl of Howth in 1874 on the death of his father, Thomas St Lawrence, 3rd Earl of Howth, and was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 8 May 1884. His mother was Thomas's first wife Lady Emily de Burgh, daughter of John de Burgh, 13th Earl of Clanricarde.
Charles Leslie (1810–1870) was briefly Church of Ireland Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh in 1870. His father, John Leslie, was the first Bishop of the diocese. His mother was Isabella St Lawrence, daughter of Thomas St Lawrence, Bishop of Cork and Ross and FRances Coughlin, and granddaughter of the first Earl of Howth. Charles Leslie never actually moved into the See House, near Kilmore Cathedral, just north-west of Cavan Town. He died at his home, Corravahan House, just outside Drung.
Robert St Lawrence, 3rd Baron Howth was a leading statesman in 15th-century Ireland who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Through his second marriage he was a close connection of the new Tudor dynasty, to which his son was staunchly loyal.
Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth was a leading Irish soldier and statesman of the early Tudor period, who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Thomas St Lawrence was Bishop of Cork and Ross from 1807 and died in post on 10 February 1831. He had previously been Dean of Cork.
Christopher St Lawrence, 10th Baron Howth was an Anglo-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.
Nicholas St Lawrence, 11th Baron Howth (1597–1643) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman of the seventeenth century. The Lords of Howth for over a century had played a crucial role in Irish politics; but Nicholas, unlike many of his ancestors, preferred to lead a quiet domestic life so far as possible. During the English Civil War, his loyalty to the English Crown led to the forfeiture of much of his estates, and the troubles he endured during the conflict are said to have hastened his death.
William St Lawrence, 12th Baron Howth (1628–1671) was an Irish nobleman of the Restoration period. He was an intelligent and popular man who would undoubtedly have played an influential role in Irish politics had it not been for his premature death.
Christopher St Lawrence, 5th Baron Howth (c.1485–1542) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman and statesman of the Tudor era.
Thomas St. Lawrence, also called Thomas Howth (c.1480–1553) was a leading statesman and judge in sixteenth-century Ireland. He held the offices of Attorney General for Ireland and justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland) and was a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. He is remembered today mainly for his efforts to save the life of John Alen, Archbishop of Dublin, who was murdered during the Rebellion of Silken Thomas. He was also noted for his opposition to the Reformation. The latter stance led to a bitter clash with the leading Protestant reformer John Bale, Bishop of Ossory. The St Lawrence family were Barons and later Earls of Howth, hence his alternative name Thomas Howth.
The Brotherhood of Saint George was a short-lived military guild, which was founded in Dublin in 1474 for the defence of the English-held territory of the Pale. For a short time it was the only standing army maintained by the English Crown in Ireland. It was suppressed by King Henry VII in 1494, due to his suspicions about the Brotherhood's loyalty to his dynasty. It was not an order of knighthood, although some of its individual members were knights.
Thomas St Lawrence, 1st Earl of Howth was Anglo-Irish peer and lawyer.
William St Lawrence, 14th Baron Howth (1688-1748) was an Irish peer and politician, who enjoyed the friendship of Jonathan Swift.
Garret Moore, 1st Viscount Moore PC (I) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer.
Thomas St Lawrence, 3rd Earl of Howth KP was an Irish peer, styled Viscount St Lawrence until 1822.
William St Lawrence, 2nd Earl of Howth was an Anglo-Irish peer, styled Viscount St Lawrence from 1767 to 1801. He was the eldest son of Thomas St Lawrence, 1st Earl of Howth and Isabella King, daughter of Sir Henry King, 3rd Baronet and Isabella Wingfield.
