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For 800 years members of this family have made their home here, since its
founding by a battling Norman knight, who changed his name to St. Lawrence
from Sir Tristram in gratitude for patronage in combat. The fortified stronghold
was modernized in the 18th century by the 26th Lord Howth, and this evocative
décor remains as background to the fine porcelain, furnishings, rare Irish
furniture and paintings. Art collectors, politicians, scholars and men of action in
the field all add to the time-honoured atmosphere at Howth, where to this day
an empty place is hauntingly saved at all meals – lest the last of the great Irish
chieftains, Grace O’Malley, calls by.
H O W T H C A S T L E
D U B L I N , I R E L A N D
T h e L o r d H o w t h