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| HOWTH ABBEY, COUNTY DUBLIN. -The Abbey of Howth, situated close to the historic castle of the same name, was, in former days, one of the most artistic of the many temples of religion constructed in Ireland by either Celtic or Norman piety. It has been suffered to fall into decay, and the battlemented wall, which once surrounded the church, has now lost many of its picturesque features. This abbey is said to have been founded early in the thirteenth century by St. Lawrence, ancestor of the present Earl of Howth, and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, "with many a knightly vow," according to the chivalric fashion of the ancient days. The construction evidently had an eye to fighting, as well as prayer, for, on one side, the remnants of the battlemented wall already referred to, virtually hang over the surging sea, and on the other side look down on a deep and formidable fosse. The St. Lawrences, although an eminently pious, were also a phenomenally warlike family, and were ever foremost in the long and bloody wars waged between the gallant native Clans, and the Norman and Saxon "Palesmen." The abbey was never, so far as the record shows, used as a monastery. It is the family burial place of the Earls of Howth. |
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