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Howth

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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[pronounced Hothj, a seaside town of Co. Dublin, Ireland, on the rocky hill of Howth, which forms the northern horn of Dublin Bay, 9 m. N.E. by N. of Dublin by the Great Northern railway. Pop. (1901) 1166. It is frequented by the residents of the capital as a watering-place. The artificial harbour was formed (1807-1832) between the mainland and the picturesque island of Ireland's Eye, and preceded Kingstown as the station for the mail-packets from Great Britain, but was found after its construction to be liable to silt, and is now chiefly used by fishing-boats and yachts. The collegiate church, standing picturesquely on a cliff above the sea, was founded about 1235, and has a monastic building attached to it. The embattled castle contains the two-handed sword of Sir Almeric Tristram, the Anglo-Norman conqueror of the hill of Howth, and a portrait of Dean Swift holding one of the Drapier letters, with Wood, the coiner against whom he directed these attacks, prostrate before him. The view of Dublin Bay from the hill of Howth is of great beauty. Howth is connected with the capital by electric tramway, besides the railway, and another tramway encircles the hill.