Earl of Howth (/ˈhoʊθ/HOHTH) was a title in thePeerage of Ireland. It was created in 1767 for Thomas St Lawrence, 15th Baron Howth, who was elevated toViscount 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 asBaron Howth in about 1425. The third and fourth Barons both served asLord Chancellor of Ireland. The family's origins are thought to go back to Almeric Tristram, aliegeman of theAnglo-Irish knightJohn de Courcy, who conqueredHowth in 1177. The St Lawrence family claimed significantprerogative rights as Lords of Howth over the wholepeninsula, and were prepared to maintain their rights even against theEnglish Crown.
The fourth baron was Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and a distinguished soldier who fought at theBattle of Knockdoe; his grandson, the seventh baron, was also a notable soldier. The eighth baron, commonly known as "the blind lord", was one of the leading Irish statesmen of his time, and led the opposition to the Government's taxation policy in the 1570s. His son, the ninth baron, was an openRoman Catholic, and led the opposition to thePenal Laws in the early 17th century. The tenth baron was a notable military commander who served in theNine Years War with theEarl of Essex andLord Mountjoy. The fourteenth Baron representedRatoath in theIrish House of Commons, and was a friend ofJonathan Swift. The third Earl served asLord-Lieutenant of Dublin.[1]
The fourth Earl sat asMember of Parliament forGalway Borough, and in 1881 he was createdBaron Howth, of Howth in the County of Dublin, in thePeerage of the United Kingdom. All these titles became extinct upon his death in 1909 as he left no male heir.[2] The family seat,Howth Castle, remained in the hands of their descendants in the female line, the Gaisford-St Lawrence family, until the twenty-first century.[3]
Web archive; university of London institute of historical research
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