HOWTH, a maritime parish and town in Coolock barony, eight miles N.E. by N. from the General Post Office, Dublin, comprising au area of 2,670 acres, of which 35 occupy the town. Population of parish, 1,538 ; of town, 692, inhabiting 130 houses. It forms a promontory and a peninsula, occupying the N. side of Dublin bay, joining the mainland by a low sandy isthmus half a mile in width. The hill embraces the outer and wider portion of the peninsula, two miles in length by one and a half' in breadth, rising 563 feet above the level of the sea, and seen from all points, is a very interesting and striking object.

Passing over the early historical notices of this place, in 1177 Sir Amorey Tristam landed here with a large force, and signally defeated the Danes, and by it gained the lordship of Howth, which his descendants have continued in possession of ever since, by the name of St. Lawrance, now the property of Thomas, twenty-eighth Baron and third Earl of Howth. The town occupies the N. side of the hill, and consists chiefly of one main street, inhabited mostly by fishermen . Its buildings are. the Parish Church and a Roman Catholic Chapel, both neat edifices ; the former is on an eminence entering the town. There is a Dispensary, Coast Guard and Constabulary Police Stations, and a National School. The Baily Light-house, on the S. angle of the hill, can be seen seventeen miles in clear weather. Howth Castle is an embattled structure, with a tower at each end ; the hall, running the whole length of the building, is decorated with armour and military weapons, among which is a large two-handled sword, said to have been that used by Sir Amorey against the Danes. In the park there are races occasionally. Prior to the erection of Kingstown harbour, this place was the chief packet station, and the usual place of landing and embarkation for the nobility and gentry; and here Geo. IV, landed in August, 1821. It is now almost entirely neglected, except by fishermen, although upwards of half a million sterling was expended on the harbour; but, badly constructed and the site injudiciously chosen at the mouth of an estuary that had been long throwing out its sand banks, the whole of the works have been long practically condemned as utterly useless. The harbour receipts for 1843 were £52 10s. It is a branch of the Dublin and Drogheda Railway, and opened for traffic August 1846.

The trains from Dublin arrive at 30 minutes past 8 a.m. and 12 noon, and 45 minutes after 3, 45 minutes after 5 and 9, p.m. The up trains to Dublin depart at 9,a.m., at 30 minutes past 1, 30 minutes past 4, 20 minutes past 6, and at 30 minutes past 9, p.m. The mail from Dublin arrives at 9, a.m., and is despatched at 4, p.m. The Post Office grant and pay money- orders.