Earl of Howth

The family's origins are thought to go back to Almeric Tristram, a liegeman of the Anglo-Irish knight John de Courcy, who conquered Howth in 1177.

The eighth baron, commonly known as "the blind lord", was one of the leading Irish statesmen of his time, and led the opposition to the Government's taxation policy in the 1570s.

His son, the ninth baron, was an open Roman Catholic, and led the opposition to the Penal Laws in the early 17th century.

The tenth baron was a notable military commander who served in the Nine Years War with the Earl of Essex and Lord Mountjoy.

The fourteenth Baron represented Ratoath in the Irish House of Commons, and was a friend of Jonathan Swift.