Overview

Howth is a popular day trip destination for Dubliners, and has the bracing air of a seaside resort, even off-season. The harbour is charming but it's well worth taking the short walk to the Head for the panoramic views across Dublin Bay to the Wicklow Mountains. Howth Head has been a strategic military lookout for millennia and crops up in Irish legends involving the ancient people-the Parthalons and Fir Bolg. If your legs are sturdy enough to take you to the top, look out for a burial cairn where Croimhthain, an ancient Gaelic chief, is reputedly buried.