Nicholas St Lawrence, 9th Baron Howth (1555–1606)

Nicholas St. Lawrence, 9th Baron Howth (c.1550-1607 ) was a leading member of the Anglo-Irish nobility in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Desspite openly admitting his Roman Catholic faith, he enjoyed the trust of Elizabeth 1 and successive Lord Deputies of Ireland, and was even excused for signing a petition against the Penal Laws.

Early life

He was the eldest surviving son of Christopher St Lawrence, 8th Baron Howth (d. 1589) and his first wife Elizabeth Plunket. His date of birth is often given as 1555, but was probably some years earlier: Elrington Ball states that he was well into middle age when his father died,^[1] and in 1605 he was described as too old to live long.

His early life cannot have been happy: his father was notorious for cruelty to his wife and children. In 1577 Nicholas' teenage sister Jane died after being beaten by her father and his mother was so ill-treated that the Courts eventually granted her a separation.^[2]

According to a well-known legend Granuaile, the celebrated Pirate Queen of Galway in about 1575 arrived unannounced at Howth Castle for dinner, only to find the gates barred; in retaliation for the discourtesy she took the youthful heir to the title hostage until the family apologised. Elrington Ball argues that the story may be based on fact^[3]- but if the heir was a child this would refer to Nicholas' eldest son, not Nicholas himself. In the 1580s he lived mostly at Platten in Meath where his wife had inherited property from her first husband. He was knighted in 1588 and succeeded his father the following year.

Political career

In Elrington Ball's view " he was devoted to the interests of the Pale and did not always find it easy to reconcile that with the requirements of Government"^[4] especially after it became clear that he was loyal to the old religion. Initial relations with the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir William FitzWilliam, were friendly and he was appointed guardian of the Pale in the Deputy's absence. Shortly afterwards relations cooled when Nicholas became involved in the long and bitter dispute between the Nugent family, headed by the 6th Baron Delvin, and Sir Robert Dillon (judge) the Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. The Nugent family pursued Dillon relentlessly with charges of corruption for several years until he was eventually cleared in 1593, and Lord Howth was closely associated with the attack.^[5] His motives are unclear; Lord Delvin claimed Howth had been injured by the Deputy, but Howth himself proclaimed his trust in him. More likely he was influenced by his second wife's father Sir Nicholas White, another bitter enemy of Dillon, and this would explain his loss of favour with the crown since White's loyalty was deeply suspect.

Howth was restored to favour and enjoyed friendly relations with the new Deputy, Sir William Russell, whom he entertained at Howth on his arrival in Ireland. The following year he accompanied Russell on his campaign against the O'Byrnes of Wicklow and the Deputy wrote that Howth deserved some words of thanks from the Queen.^[6] In 1598 he was praised highly for being one of the few nobles of the Pale to render useful assistance to Sir Henry Bagenal in his campaign against Hugh O'Neill, although he later complained of the depredations of Bagenal's soldiers in the Pale.^[7]

In 1600 he was again the first to entertain a new Deputy, Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy, who formed a very high opinion of him and appointed him to act in his absence. In 1601 he went to London to discuss Irish affairs: the Queen who had already met and been impressed by his eldest son, also formed a high opinion of Howth himself.^[8] On his return he was appointed to the Privy Council.

Religious conflict

Howth's first wife was a daughter of Sir Christopher Barnewall of Turvey, who while outwardly conforming to the Church of Ireland, adhered to the older faith. Christopher's son Patrick Barnewall (died 1622) emerged in the early 1600s as spokesman for the Catholic nobility. Although they had been on bad terms over a lawsuit in the 1590s, he and Howth became close and Howth, like Barnewall, openly admitted his Catholic faith. In December 1605 he was one of the signatories to a petition that the Penal Laws be restrained, rather than extended.^[9] This was potentially a dangerous step, and Barnewall was sent to the Tower as a result, but Howth was left in peace. He enjoyed the confidence of yet another Deputy, Sir Arthur Chichester, who was said to openly dispute with him the rival merits of the two faiths. Possibly to forestall any action against Howth, Chichester wrote that he was old and would not live long.^[10] This proved to be correct: Howth died in May 1607 and was buried in Howth Abbey.

Family

By his first wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Christophe Barnewall, he had three children:

• Christopher St Lawrence, 10th Baron Howth
• Thomas
• Mary, who married William Eustace of Castlemartin.

By his second wife Mary White, daughter of Sir Nicholas White, Master of the Rolls in Ireland he had six further children:

• Richard
• Almeric
• Edward
• Margaret, who married firstly Viscount Gormanston and secondly the 1st Earl of Westmeath
• Eleanor
• Alison, who married Thomas Luttrell.

References

1. ^ Ball, F. Elrington History of Dublin 6 Volumes Alexander Thoms and Co. Dublin 1902-1920
2. ^ Crawford,Jon G. A Star Chamber Court or Ireland- the Court of Castle Chamber 1571-1641 Four Courts Press Dublin 2006
3. ^ History of Dublin
4. ^ History of Dublin
5. ^ Dunlop, Robert " Sir Nicholas St. Lawrence " Dictionary of National Biography Volume 50
6. ^ DNB
7. ^ DNB
8. ^ Ball History of Dublin
9. ^ DNB
10. ^ Ball History of Dublin

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