- Howth Head
Howth Head ("Ceann Binn Éadair" in Irish) is a headland north of Dublin City in Ireland, near the districts of
Baldoyle andPortmarnock . Sutton lies at the entry to the headland and on part of the southern side, andHowth district occupies the rest, with the village and harbour on the northern side.Originally an island, Howth Head is connected to the mainland via a narrow strip of land, or
tombolo , and forms the northerly bound of the great crescent ofDublin Bay , corresponding toKilliney Head in the south.Most of the headland is hilly, with peaks such as the 171m
Shielmartin Hill and 163mBen of Howth , and there are steep cliffs around parts.Gorse grows in many places on the headland.The earliest mention of the peninsula was on a map attributed to Claudius Ptolemy, where it was called "Edri Deserta" or in Greek "Edrou Heremos". 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.
As one of the northern termini of the
Dublin Area Rapid Transit system (DART), Howth is a popular destination for day-trippers from the capital. Hikers make for the ancientcairn on Howth summit, from where, on clear days, theWicklow Mountains can be seen, withDublin city below.Slieve Donard , an 852metre peak inNorthern Ireland may also be visible - a distance of km to mi | 90 | abbr=yes | precision=0 . Quite frequently,Snowdon (1,085 m) inSnowdonia National Park in Wales can be seen - a distance of km to mi | 138 | abbr=yes | precision=0 .Howth head also happens to be the location where
Leopold Bloom proposes to Molly inJames Joyce 's "Ulysses". In the short story Eveline, another work ofJames Joyce 's from the collection, "Dubliners ", it is mentioned that Eveline and her family once had a picnic on the Hill of Howth.Howth Head is also mentioned in the lyrics of the title track of
Kate Bush 's 1989 album, "The Sensual World ": '...took six big wheels and rolled our bodies / off of Howth Head and into the flesh, mmh, yes...'.External links
* [http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2782668-howth_head_dublin-i Yahoo! Travel:Howth Head]
* [http://www.howthcoastguard.com Howth Coast Guard Cliff and Coast Rescue Unit]
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