Nicholas St Lawrence, 8th Baron Howth

Nicholas St. Lawrence, 9th Baron Howth (c.1550–1607) was a leading member of the Irish nobility in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Despite openly professing his Roman Catholic faith, he enjoyed the trust of Elizabeth I and of successive Lord Deputies of Ireland, and was even forgiven by the English Crown for signing a petition protesting against the enforcement of the Penal Laws.

Early life He was the eldest surviving son of Christopher, 8th Baron Howth and his first wife Elizabeth Plunket, daughter of Sir John Plunket of Beaulieu House, County Louth and Anne Barnwell. His date of birth is often given as 1555, but was probably some years earlier: Elrington Ball states that he was well into middle age when his father died, and in 1605 he was described as being "too old to be likely to live long".

His early life was wretchedly unhappy, as his father was notorious for his cruelty to his wife and children. In 1577 Nicholas's teenage sister Jane died after, and probably as a result of, being severely beaten by their father, and his mother was so ill-treated that she fled from home in fear of her life. Nicholas and the other children, understandably, were said to live in fear of their father. The Court of Castle Chamber (the Irish equivalent of Star Chamber) granted Lady Howth a judicial separation. Lord Howth was fined for his cruelty to his wife and daughter and briefly imprisoned.

According to a well-known legend, Granuaile, in about 1575 the celebrated Pirate Queen of Galway, arrived unannounced at Howth Castle for dinner, only to find the gates barred; in retaliation for the discourtesy, she took the youthful heir to the barony hostage until the family apologised. Elrington Ball suggests that the story may be partly based on fact, He was knighted in 1588 and succeeded his father as baron the following year.

Political career In Elrington Ball's view, Lord Howth "was devoted to the interests of the Pale and did not always find it easy to reconcile that with the requirements of Government. " His motives are unclear; Lord Delvin claimed that Howth had been injured in some way by Lord Deputy FitzWilliam, but Howth himself proclaimed his trust in him. More likely he was influenced by his second wife's father, Sir Nicholas White, another bitter enemy of Dillon. This would explain Howth's loss of favour with the Crown since White's loyalty was deeply suspect, and he eventually died a prisoner in the Tower of London.

Howth was restored to favour and enjoyed friendly relations with the new Lord Deputy, Lord Russell, whom he entertained at Howth Castle on his arrival in Ireland. The following year he accompanied Russell on his campaign against the O'Byrnes of County Wicklow and the Lord Deputy wrote that Howth deserved some words of thanks from the Queen. who while outwardly conforming to the Church of Ireland, had privately adhered to the Roman Catholic faith. Christopher's son Patrick Barnewall emerged in the early 1600s as a spokesman for the Catholic nobility. Although the brothers-in-law had been on bad terms in the 1590s, when they were engaged in a lawsuit, Barnewall and Howth later became friendly and Howth, like Barnewall, openly professed his Catholic faith, as did Howth's son-in-law, Lord Gormanston. In December 1605 Howth and Barnewall were signatories to a petition that the Penal Laws should be modified, rather than extended.

Alison Luttrell His daughter Alison St Lawrence married, as his second wife, Thomas Luttrell of Luttrellstown Castle, MP for County Dublin in the Irish Parliament of 1613–15, in 1616. He was the grandson of Sir Thomas Luttrell, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Their daughter Mary married William FitzWilliam, 3rd Viscount FitzWilliam. They had five other children, including John and Thomas.

Thomas Luttrell died in 1634; a copy of his will survives. He left Alison the dower house at Diswellstown in Castleknock, as well as twenty cattle, three hundred sheep, fifteen farm horses and four riding horses.