Earl of Howth
Encyclopedia
History of title and notable holders
Earl of Howth was a title in the Peerage of IrelandPeerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
. It was created in 1767 for Thomas St Lawrence, 15th Baron Howth. He was made 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 circa 1425. The third and fourth Barons both served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
The office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament.-13th century:...
.The fourth baron was also a distinguished soldier who fought at the Battle of Knockdoe
Battle of Knockdoe
The Battle of Knockdoe was a conflict between the Hiberno-Norman de Burghs and Anglo-Norman Fitzgeralds, along with their respective Irish allies. On the 19th of August 1504, the Parish of Lackagh was the site of what appears to have been an unusually bloody conflict, arising from a dispute...
. The eighth baron, commonly known as " the blind lord " led the opposition to the Government's taxation policy in the 1570s. The ninth baron was an open Roman Catholic who led opposition to the Penal Laws in the early 1600s. The tenth baron was a notable military commander who served with the Earl of Essex and Lord Mountjoy. The fourteenth Baron represented Ratoath
Ratoath (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Ratoath was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons.-Boundaries and boundary changes:This constituency was the manor of Ratoath in County Meath.Following the Act of Union 1800 the constituency was disenfranchised.-Members of Parliament:...
in the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
. The third Earl served as Lord-Lieutenant of Dublin. The fourth Earl sat as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Galway Borough
Galway Borough (UK Parliament constituency)
Galway Borough was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency, in Ireland. It returned one MP 1801–1832, two MPs 1832–1885 and one thereafter. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.-Boundaries:This...
. In 1881 he was created Baron Howth, of Howth in the County of Dublin, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
. However, all the titles became extinct on his death in 1909.
Howth Castle
The family seat was Howth CastleHowth Castle
Howth Castle lies close to the village of Howth, Fingal County in Ireland. It is the ancestral home of the line of the St Lawrence family that died out in 1909. From 1425 to 1767 the title had been Lord Howth, holding the area since the Norman invasion of 1180. It is now held by their heirs, the...
,which still belongs to their descendants, the Gaisford St.Lawrences. A famous legend, which may have a slight basis in fact, tells that Granuaile, the celebrated Pirate Queen of Galway, arrived uninvited for dinner around 1575 and found the gates locked. Annoyed at the discourtesy, she kidnapped Lord Howth's youthful grandson and held him hostage until the family apologised. By way of amends the family promised that the gates of the castle would always be open at dinner time and an extra place laid for unexpected guests.
Barons Howth (c. 1425)
- Christopher St Lawrence, 1st Baron Howth (d. 1430)
- Christopher St Lawrence, 2nd Baron Howth (d. 1465)
- Robert St Lawrence, 3rd Baron HowthRobert St Lawrence, 3rd Baron HowthRobert St.Lawrence, 3rd Baron Howth was a leading statesman in 15th-century Ireland who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and had through marriage a close connection of the Tudor dynasty.- Background :...
(d. 1485) - Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron HowthNicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron HowthNicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth was a leading Irish soldier and statesman of the early Tudor period.-Early life:He was born about 1460, eldest son of Robert St Lawrence, 3rd Baron Howth and his first wife Alice White. His stepmother Joan Beaufort was a cousin of Henry VII to whom Nicholas...
(d. 1526) - Christopher St Lawrence, 5th Baron Howth (d. 1542)
- Edward St Lawrence, 6th Baron Howth (1508–1549)
- Richard St Lawrence, 7th Baron Howth (d. 1558)
- Christopher St Lawrence, 8th Baron Howth (d. 1589)Christopher St Lawrence, 8th Baron Howth (d. 1589)Christopher St Lawrence, 8th Baron Howth was a member of the Privy Council, and played a leading part in the Irish Government of the 1560s but later went into opposition and was imprisoned as a result. He was nick-named " the blind lord ". He was a man of some culture and may have partly written...
- Nicholas St Lawrence, 9th Baron Howth (1555–1606)Nicholas St Lawrence, 9th Baron Howth (1555–1606)Nicholas St. Lawrence, 9th Baron Howth was a leading member of the Anglo-Irish nobility in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries...
- Christopher St Lawrence, 10th Baron HowthChristopher St Lawrence, 10th Baron HowthChristopher St Lawrence, 10th Baron Howth was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier of the late Elizabethan and Jacobean era. His personal charm made him a favourite of successive monarchs and he was also a soldier of some repute who fought with Essex and Mountjoy...
(d. 1619) - Nicholas St Lawrence, 11th Baron HowthNicholas St Lawrence, 11th Baron HowthNicholas St Lawrence, 11th Baron Howth was an Anglo-Irish nobleman of the seventeenth century. The Lord of Howth for over a century had played a crucial role in Irish politics; but Nicholas unlike his predecessors, preferred a private life...
(1597–1643) - William St Lawrence, 12th Baron HowthWilliam St Lawrence, 12th Baron HowthWilliam St Lawrence, 12th Baron Howth was an Irish nobleman of the Restoration period. He was an intelligent and popular man who would no doubt have played an influential role in Irish politics but for his premature death....
(d. 1671) - Thomas St Lawrence, 13th Baron HowthThomas St Lawrence, 13th Baron HowthThomas St Lawrence, 13th Baron Howth was an Irish nobleman of the later Stuart and early Georgian era.He was born in 1659, eldest son of William St Lawrence, 12th Baron Howth, and Elizabeth Fitzwilliam. He was only twelve when his father died, and was under the guardianship of the Earl of Ossory...
(1659–1727) - William St Lawrence, 14th Baron Howth (1688–1748)
- Thomas St Lawrence, 15th Baron Howth (1730–1801) (created Earl of Howth in 1767)
Earls of Howth (1767)
- Thomas St Lawrence, 1st Earl of Howth (1730–1801)
- William St Lawrence, 2nd Earl of Howth (1752–1822)
- Thomas St Lawrence, 3rd Earl of Howth (1803–1874)
- William Ulick Tristram St Lawrence, 4th Earl of HowthWilliam St Lawrence, 4th Earl of HowthWilliam 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 Thomas St Lawrence, 3rd Earl of Howth and was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 8 May 1884....
(1827–1909)