Nicholas St Lawrence, 11th Baron Howth

The Lords of Howth for over a century had played a crucial role in Irish politics; but Nicholas, unlike many of his ancestors, preferred to lead a quiet domestic life.

Nicholas and his mother (who after his father's death remarried Sir Robert Newcomen, 1st Baronet, of a family which had settled in County Longford) were never close: in her last will she graciously forgave him for the "great grief" he had caused her over a lawsuit, the details of which have not survived.

When the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford summoned the Irish Parliament in 1634 Howth played a prominent part in its proceedings, sitting on two key committees.

[4] On the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Howth joined with other leaders of the Pale in waiting on the Lords Justices to assure them of their loyalty to the Crown, and to complain of the defenceless state of Dublin.

As a result of his loyalty to the Crown, Howth's property suffered greatly: he was deprived of the substantial rents of his lands in Tyrone and Monaghan and he complained that his estate was "altogether wasted and burned".

They had 7 children:[citation needed] Elrington Ball describes the 11th Baron as a quiet, home-loving man, tolerant in religious matters and held in great esteem by his neighbours and relatives.