In October 2018, the Gaisford St Lawrence family announced their agreement to sell the castle, demesne and Ireland's Eye to the Tetrarch investment group who intended to redevelop the hotel and course as a luxury resort.

[8] Later, towards the end of the 1st millennium, Viking raids began to occur along the Irish coast with Lambay Island and Howth being two of the prominent areas which still retain Norse names.

The original family castle, a timber structure, was sited on the edge of Howth village, on Tower Hill, overlooking Balscadden Bay.

[citation needed] The architect Edwin Lutyens in 1911 restyled the 14th-century castle built here, overlooking Ireland's Eye and the north Dublin coastline.

The golf club and related facilities would remain open through 2019, the hotel would be redeveloped and reopened as a luxury property, and residential development would be possible.

[5] No details were given on whether the family would retain some land, or a life right to live in the castle, or of the future of the volunteer-operated Transport Museum located on the grounds.

[10] During a trip from Dublin, the Gaelic chieftain and "pirate queen" Gráinne O'Malley attempted to pay a courtesy visit to the 8th Baron Howth.

It is likely the first Lord built a modest wooden castle close to the harbour near the present day village and St Mary's Abbey.

[14] In 1892 Rosa Mulholland referred to the grounds thus: "Back on the lower land you must visit the ancient demesne of the Earl of Howth, where a quaint old castle stands in a prim garden with swan-inhabited pond, and plashing fountain, encircled by dark beautiful woods full of lofty cathedral-like aisles, moss carpeted, and echoing with the cawing of rooks.

"(Mulholland 1892: 35) The grounds near the castle are noted for the wild rhododendron gardens, which are open to the public in summer, and some of the oldest beech hedges in Ireland, planted in 1710.

The more remote parts of the estate are treated as more or less public land, with walking trails, and are substantially subject to a Special Amenity Area Order.

[24] The castle was used extensively for exterior shots in Love & Friendship, Whit Stillman's adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Lady Susan.