HOWTH  [pronounced Hothl, a seaside

town of Co . Dublin, Ireland, on the rocky hill of Howth, which forms the northern horn of Dublin Bay, 9 M . N.E. by N. of Dublin by the Great Northern railway . Pop . (1901) 1166 . It is frequented by the residents of the capital as a watering-place . The artificial harbour was formed (1807—1832) between the mainland and the picturesque island of Ireland's Eye, and preceded Kingstown as the station for the mail-packets from Great Britain, but was found after its construction to be liable to silt, and is now chiefly used by fishing-boats and yachts . The collegiate church, standing picturesquely on a cliff above the sea, was founded about 1235, and has a monastic building attached to it . The embattled castle contains the two-handed sword of Sir Almeric Tristram, the Anglo-Norman conqueror of the hill of Howth; and a portrait of Dean Swift holding one of the Drapier letters, with Wood, the coiner against whom he directed these attack, prostrate before him . The view of Dublin Bay from the hill of Howth is of great beauty . Howth is connected with the capital by electric tramway, besides the railway, and another tramway encircles the hill .