Book of Howth

Christopher St Lawrence, 8th Baron Howth (died 1589) was an Irish peer. He was a member of the Privy Council of Ireland, and played a leading part in Government in the 1560s; but he later went into opposition and was imprisoned as a result. He was nicknamed the Blind Lord.

He was a man of considerable learning, who may have written part of the historical compilation called The Book of Howth. On the other hand, he was notorious for his domestic cruelty: he was imprisoned and fined for ill-treating his wife, and for apparently causing the death of his teenage daughter through his brutal treatment of her.

He was born sometime after 1509, the third of the four sons of Christopher St Lawrence, 5th Baron Howth and his wife Anne Bermingham. He was the brother of Edward St Lawrence, 6th Baron Howth and Richard St Lawrence, 7th Baron Howth Since he was a younger son without much prospect of inheriting the title, not a great deal is recorded of his early years. He entered Lincoln's Inn in 1544 and was practising at the English bar ten years later: his legal knowledge later made him an effective leader of the opposition to the Crown's taxation policies. It is not known when he was afflicted with blindness, nor whether he went totally blind. By 1556 he had returned to Ireland and was managing one of the family estates. He succeeded to the barony in 1558.

The Baron of Howth was always well positioned to play a major part in Irish politics: Christopher had the additional advantage of enjoying the trust of the Lord Deputy of Ireland, the Earl of Sussex. He was made a member of the Privy Council immediately after the accession of Elizabeth I and sat in her first Irish Parliament. Sussex sent him to negotiate with Shane O'Neill, the effective ruler of Ulster, in 1561: Howth persuaded O'Neill to go to London and submit himself to the Queen's mercy. Howth himself went to London the following year to discuss Irish affairs with the Queen. By his own account Elizabeth at first treated him with great suspicion simply because he was an Irishman, but he succeeded in winning her trust. He was confirmed in the title Baron of Howth and later knighted. After Sussex's recall from Ireland he continued to enjoy the confidence of the Lord Justice of Ireland, Sir Nicholas Arnold, who sent him to negotiate with the O'Reilly clan.

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