Fun things to do in Howth

The Old Courthouse dates from the 1870's . As well as being the Village Court house, this single storey building has also been used as a prayer hall, and a tax collection point.

Nowadays, it is the local branch of An Taisce, (Irelands National Trust), as well as holding Bric a Brac sales etc.

On the day that I was visiting, there was a Second hand Book sale.
I had a quick look in, to have a peep at the Old building- nothing much to see, and to look for a book or 2 - Couldn't find anything that interested me, and they were quite expensive - 3.50 euros for a tatty paperback.. There were quite a few books about Irish History, and religious books.

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Hardly anyone knows about this beach. Even I didn't know til recently and I've been living only 3 miles away from it for the past year! :-)

It is a lovely wide quiet beach, however there are literally no signposts for it at all. (very strange, I think)

It is a great spot for photography. You have a great view of the West Pier in Howth, the boats off the harbour, Ireland's Eye island, Sutton and the rest of North County Dublin. Also, you can take your dogs and even your horse to the beach. You could also go kite-surfing, if you're into that.

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Baily Lighthouse is the lighthouse standing on the south eastern part of Howth Head. There has been a lighthouse on this site since 1667, but first the lighthouse was standing higher up, which often made it obscure by fog, so a new lighthouse was built closer to the sea in 1814. After several shipwrecks in the area the lighthouse finally got a fog bell in 1853. Through the years modernisations was done.
The lighthouse has been a training facility for new lighthouse keepers.
In 1996 Baily Lighthouse was the last Irish lighthouse that became automatic.

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If you walk Abby Street up from the harbour you will come to the Roman Catholic Church of The Assumption, a church built in 1899. When I was walking up to the summit the church was open, but as I came down it was closed. Inside the church there is a simple wooden roof and some fine stained glass windows. The church has got streets on all sides and if you are walking to the summit you should take the road on the left side of the church.

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The Irish poet WB Yeats lived in Balscadden Cottage, on Howth Hill.

The view of the sea from the cottage is stunning.
Cliffs are behind the house.

As it is a private residence, you cannot enter it, but if one is a Yeats aficionado, then you will want to see it whilst in Dublin.

Well, you couldn't miss this if you tried. It is located at the end of the pier. It is automatically operated.

From the lighthouse, you have a great view of Howth village, the Summit and across the sea to Lambay Island

In the Howth tourist office the young man recommended us the rhododendron park, but we wanted to make a cliff walk. He obviously though that we were too old to make it, but we were stubborn and found our way there. There were all kinds of warnings like "uneven surface" but we found the path quite easy to walk. We really enjoyed our walk very much. The scenery was so beautiful. Sea under us, lots of bushes, heather and many different flowers in bloom, but the best of all was the peace. There were hardly any other people there and we really loved that.

Walk through the town centre and eventually you reach the marina area of Malahide, which like Howth, is full of fancy pleasure craft! Compared to the main streets and their small town feel, the marina area seems a lot more upmarket with new residential developements and ethnic restaurants dotting the seafront.