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Howth Head ( ; ''Ceann Bhinn Éadair'' in
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
) is a peninsula northeast of the city of Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
in Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, within the governance of Fingal County Council. Entry to the headland is at Sutton
Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
England
In alphabetical order by county:
* Sutton, Bedfordshire
* Sutton, Berkshire, a location
* Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire
* ...
while the village of Howth and the harbour are on the north-eastern face. Most of Howth Head is occupied by the Hill of Howth, though there are other regions, such as the tombolo at Sutton, extensive beaches on the northern shores, and small ones in other parts. The Baily Lighthouse is on the southeastern part of Howth Head. Nearby are the districts of Baldoyle
Baldoyle () is a coastal suburb of Dublin's northside. It is located in the southeastern part of the jurisdiction of Fingal, Ireland, developed from a former fishing village.
Baldoyle is also a civil parish in the barony of Coolock within t ...
and Portmarnock
Portmarnock () is a coastal suburban settlement in Fingal, Ireland, with significant beaches, a modest commercial core and inland residential estates, and two golf courses, including one of Ireland's best-known golf clubs. , the population was ...
, and adjacent is the nature reserve of North Bull Island.
History
The earliest mention of the peninsula may be on a map attributed toClaudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importa ...
, where it was called ''Edri Deserta'' or in Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(''Edrou Heremos'', Edar's isolated place). Here it was portrayed as an island, but it is not clear if this was due to actual separation from the headland or inaccurate information available to the cartographer. Other writers think that ''Edrou'' was actually Lambay Island, from Greek (''hedra'') "sitting place or ships
Or or OR may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* "O.R.", a 1974 episode of M*A*S*H
* Or (My Treasure), a 2004 movie from Israel (''Or'' means "light" in Hebrew)
Music
* ''Or'' (album), a 2002 album by Golden Boy with Miss ...
.
The peninsula has been occupied since at least the 3rd millennium BC, with two middens found, and a dolmen dating back to around 2200 BC. It features in several Irish legends. A fishing settlement developed at Howth, and the area developed under the Norman St. Lawrence family, who owned most of Howth Head from the late 1100s until 2019. In the 19th century, an electric tramline made the whole hill more accessible.
Location and topography
Originally an island, Howth Head is connected to the mainland via a narrow strip of land, ortombolo
A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island becom ...
, and forms the northerly bound of the great crescent of Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay ( ga, Cuan Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north–south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dub ...
, roughly corresponding to Dalkey Hill
Dalkey Hill ( ; ga, Cnoc Dheilginse) is the northernmost of the two hills which form the southern boundary of Dublin Bay (the other being Killiney Hill). Dalkey Hill is 140 metres high and has views over the surrounding areas : Dublin to the ...
and Killiney Hill
Killiney Hill ( ga, Cnoc Chill Iníon Léinín) is the southernmost of the two hills which form the southern boundary of Dublin Bay, the other being Dalkey Hill. These two hills form part of Killiney Hill Park.
Crowned by a monument, Killiney Hi ...
in the south.
Most of the headland is hilly, with peaks such as the 171 m Black Linn, by the Ben of Howth
The Ben of Howth ( ; Irish: ''Beann Éadair'' ) is a hilly areaShielmartin Hill (163 m) overlooking Carrickbrack Road and Carrickbrack and Dun Hill. There are also craggy areas such as Muck Rock (Carrickmore), and Kilrock.
Howth has an extensive and varied coastline, and there are steep sea cliffs around parts, especially on the north coast. Key points on the coast, clockwise from Sutton, include Cush Point, Claremont Strand, the small headland at Howth village, Balscadden Bay, Kilrock, the Great and Little Baily, Lion's Head, Doldrum Bay, the Needles, Drumleck Point, Red Rock and Sutton Strand.
Due to the shape of the landform, and its rocky nature, with thin soil covering, Howth features multiple streams and several fast-running streams, due to hard rock under a thin soil layer. These include the Bloody StreamCoulcour Brook, the Boggeen Stream, the Offington Stream, the Whitewater Brook, the Balsaggart Stream, and the Carrickbrack and Santa Sabina Streams.
File:Howth Head3656c.jpg, Howth Head viewed from on the North Bull Island in
Howth Head is the setting of two scenes from the Tony Award-winning musical "Once."
Howth Coast Guard Cliff and Coast Rescue UnitHowth Lifeboat StationHowth Head - pictures on the Travvi
{{coord, 53.37923, N, 6.07201, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Headlands of the Republic of Ireland Head Important Bird Areas of the Republic of Ireland Landforms of Fingal Tombolos
Fauna and flora
The cliffs support a large colony of seabirds, notablyrazorbill
The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis im ...
s, common guillemot
The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to ...
s, fulmars
The fulmars are tubenosed seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species and two extinct fossil species from the Miocene.
Fulmars superficially resemble gulls, but are readily distinguished by their flight on ...
, kittiwakes and cormorants
Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven gen ...
. The scrubland above supports several heathland species including skylarks
''Skylarks'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Jimmy Nervo, Teddy Knox and Nancy Burne.Low p.386 Nervo and Knox were a comic team, who became associated with the larger Crazy Gang grouping with whom they s ...
, meadow pipit
The meadow pipit (''Anthus pratensis'') is a small passerine bird, which breeds in much of the Palearctic, from southeastern Greenland and Iceland east to just east of the Ural Mountains in Russia, and south to central France and Romania; an isol ...
s, common whitethroat
The common whitethroat or greater whitethroat (''Curruca communis'') is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winte ...
s, linnets, stonechats and whinchat
The whinchat (''Saxicola rubetra'') is a small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and western Asia and wintering in central Africa. At one time considered to be in the thrush family, Turdidae, it is now placed in the Old World flycat ...
s. The most commonly seen birds of prey are kestrels, peregrine falcons and common buzzards.
Gorse grows in many places on the headland. Fires are frequent during dry summers. Thirty-one non-native plants were recorded in 2018 from Howth Head.
Transport
There are two railway stations on or near the head. Sutton station is on the northern edge of the tombolo between Sutton and Baldoyle, and Howth station is on the head in the village of Howth. Both are served byDublin Area Rapid Transit
The Dublin Area Rapid Transit system (stylised as DART) is an electrified commuter rail railway network serving the coastline and city of Dublin, Ireland. The service makes up the core of Dublin's Dublin Suburban Rail, suburban railway network, ...
trains and have regular services to and from Dublin city centre. Historically the Hill of Howth Tramway
The Howth Tram on the Hill of Howth Tramway was a tram which served Howth Head, near Dublin, Ireland. The termini were at Sutton railway station, by the entrance to the peninsula, and Howth railway station by the village and harbour of Howth.
...
ran between the stations around the head between 1901 and 1959. Additionally Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus ( ga, Bus Átha Cliath) is a State-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 138 million passengers in 2019. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann.
...
routes serve the headland. A full road network accesses most parts, although some are only reachable by some of the many footpaths.
Gallery
Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay ( ga, Cuan Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north–south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dub ...
File:Howth 01.JPG, Cliffs at Howth Head with Baily Lighthouse in the distance
File:IRL - Howth Baily - Co. Dublin 001.JPG, Baily Lighthouse at the southeast end of Howth Head
File:The Baily Optic (7479345672).jpg, Optic from Baily lighthouse, installed in 1902 and removed in 1972 when the lighthouse was modernised
File:Howth 02.JPG, Walk on Howth Head
Leisure
Howth is a popular destination for day-trippers from the capital, accessible by car, bus and one of the northern termini of theDublin Area Rapid Transit
The Dublin Area Rapid Transit system (stylised as DART) is an electrified commuter rail railway network serving the coastline and city of Dublin, Ireland. The service makes up the core of Dublin's Dublin Suburban Rail, suburban railway network, ...
train system (DART). Hikers can choose from a wide range of routes, including the Cliff Walk, the Cliff Path Closed Loop, or making for the ancient cairn on one of Howth's several summits. On clear days, the Wicklow Mountains
The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: ''Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in the Republic of Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. ...
can be seen, with Dublin city below. Slieve Donard
Slieve Donard ( ; ) is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland and the wider province of Ulster, with a height of . The highest of the Mourne Mountains, it is near the town of Newcastle on the eastern coast of County Down, overlooking the Iri ...
, an 852-metre peak in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
may also be visible - a distance of . Quite frequently, Snowdon (1,085 m) in Snowdonia National Park
Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951.
Name and extent
It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...
in Wales can also be seen - a distance of .
Popular culture
Howth Head is the location whereLeopold Bloom
Leopold Bloom is the fictional protagonist and hero of James Joyce's 1922 novel '' Ulysses''. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/ Odysseus in Homer's epic ...
proposes to Molly in James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
's '' Ulysses''. In the short story 'Eveline', another work by James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
from the collection ''Dubliners
''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century.
The stories were writ ...
'', it is mentioned that Eveline and her family once had a picnic on the Hill of Howth. Howth Head is also central to Joyce's final work, ''Finnegans Wake
''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction which combines a bod ...
,'' in which one of the principal characters, HCE, is, among other things, representative of the mountain.
Howth Head is mentioned in the lyrics of the title track of Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...
's 1989 album, '' The Sensual World'': '...took six big wheels and rolled our bodies / off of Howth Head and into the flesh, mmh, yes...'. The song is inspired by Molly Bloom's soliloquy in Joyce's ''Ulysses''.
The peninsula also features in the backdrop of multiple paintings by Irish artist William Orpen (1878-1931) and by American artist James Whistler.
Howth Head is the setting of two scenes from the Tony Award-winning musical "Once."
References
External links
Howth Coast Guard Cliff and Coast Rescue Unit
{{coord, 53.37923, N, 6.07201, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Headlands of the Republic of Ireland Head Important Bird Areas of the Republic of Ireland Landforms of Fingal Tombolos