The Great Betrayal: Lord Howth and the Flight of the Earls

What does Howth have to do with the Flight of the Earls? Most people would say very little. Yet there is a strong connection. In 1607 Christopher St Lawrence, 9th Baron Howth, betrayed to the English government a conspiracy of Irish Catholic lords. Among the lords he named were Rory O'Donnell and Hugh O'Neill. These largely unfounded accusations triggered Hugh O’Neill into the disastrous decision to flee Ireland in September 1607. Having been summoned to London, O'Neill was afraid James had turned against him. It was a disastrous decision. Christopher St Lawrence thus played a fundamental in one of the turning points in Irish history. Yet this is something that has gone mostly unremembered – indeed there does not seem to be a mention of it in the various histories of Howth Castle, seat of the St Lawrences.
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References
Clavin, Terry. "St Lawrence, Sir Christopher." Dictionary of Irish Biography
Kerney Walshe, Micheline. Destruction by Peace: Hugh O'Neill after Kinsale. 1986
McCavitt, John. The Flight of the Earls 2002
Morgan, Hiram. The Battle of Kinsale 2004