Howth Castle

Howth Castle
County Dublin
Howth Castle
Location
Grid reference:	O27833906
Location:	53°23’11"N, 6°4’44"W
History
Information

Howth Castle stands just outside the village of Howth in County Dublin. It was the ancestral home of the line of the St Lawrence family, the Earls of Howth, who had held the area since the Norman invasion of 1180, and had held the title of Lord Howth from 1425 to 1767. It is now held by their heirs, the Gaisford St Lawrence family.

History

Since 1180 the St Lawrence family were the feudal lords of Howth. The original family castle, a timber structure, was sited on the edge of Howth village, on Tower Hill, overlooking Balscadden Bay. Howth Castle has stood on its present site for over seven hundred years. The great architect Sir Edwin Lutyens restyled a 14th-century castle built here, overlooking Ireland's Eye and the north Dublin coastline.

Legend

A popular legend about the Castle concerns an incident that apparently occurred in 1576. During a trip from Dublin, the pirate Gráinne O'Malley attempted to pay a courtesy visit to the 8th Baron Howth. However, she was informed that the family was at dinner and the castle gates were closed against her. In retaliation, she abducted the grandson and heir, the 10th Baron. He was eventually released when a promise was given to keep the gates open to unexpected visitors, and to set an extra place at every meal. At Howth Castle today, this agreement is still honoured by the descendants of the Baron.

The castle on film

The castle has been used as a film set several times, including:

• Dementia 13 (alias "The Haunted and the Hunted") a 1963 B-film by Roger Corman and Francis Ford Coppola: Castle Howth was depicted as the fictitious "Castle Haloran" and was the setting of numerous scenes.
• Duck, You Sucker (otherwise released as A Fist Full of Dynamite) a Sergio Leone spaghetti western, has some flashback scenes shot here.
• Love & Friendship (exterior scenes), Whit Stillman's adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Lady Susan.

Grounds

In 1892 Rosa Mulholland referred to the grounds thus:

“Back on the lower land you must visit the ancient demesne of the Earl of Howth, where a quaint old castle stands in a prim garden with swan-inhabited pond, and plashing fountain, encircled by dark beautiful woods full of lofty cathedral-like aisles, moss carpeted, and echoing with the cawing of rooks.”(Mulholland 1892: 35)

The grounds are noted for the wild rhododendron gardens, which are open to the public in summer and some of the oldest beech hedges in Ireland, planted in 1710. At certain times, such as summer 2016, guided tours of the castle could be booked at weekends.

In recent years, the 17th classical landscape was totally obliterated to make for the multi-facility Deer Park golf course, which had an associated hotel, the Deer Park Hotel, for many years.

The "Kitchen in the Castle Cookery School" is based in the restored Georgian kitchens of Howth Castle.

The National Transport Museum of Ireland is located in the grounds of the castle. It features lorries, trucks, fire engines and tractors. Also exhibited is the restored Hill of Howth No.9 Tram.

Literary references

The locale of James Joyce's 1939 novel Finnegans Wake is "Howth Castle and Environs," which is taken to mean Dublin. The initials HCE appear in many contexts in the novel, not least in the name of its presumed main character, Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker.

Outside links

• Howth Castle
• Howth Castle on Archiseek
• Information on the site from megalithomania.com
• Photos and video on humphrysfamilytree.com

References

• Mulholland, R. (1892). "At Howth." The Irish Monthly 20(223): 33-7