Amory Tristram
- 1st Baron of Howth, changed his name to Saint Lawrence, born in Brittany (North Armorica)
- historical model for the legendary Tristan in the story of Tristan and Isolde
Commentary
Samuel Lewis (A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837) writes concerning Howth:
In 1177, Sir Amorey Tristram and Sir John de Courcy landed here at the head of a large military force, and totally defeated the Danish inhabitants in a sanguinary battle at the bridge of Evora, over a mountain stream which falls into the sea near the Baily lighthouse. This victory secured to Sir Amorey the lordship of Howth, of which his descendants have continued in possession to the present day, under the name of St. Laurence, which Almaric, third baron, assumed in fulfilment of a vow previously to his victory over the Danes near Clontarf, in a battle fought on the festival of that saint. The territory of Howth was confirmed to Almaric de St. Laurence by King John, and is now the property of Thomas, 28th baron and 3rd Earl of Howth.
Walter Harris, in The History and Antiquities of the City of Dublin (1763), includes "An alphabetical list of such English adventurers as arrived in Ireland during the first sixteen years from the invasion of the English [i.e. 1169], collected partly from Maurice Regan and Giraldus Cambrensis, two contemporary writers, and partly from records." This list includes the following entries:
Sancto Laurentio (Almarick de)
Sancto Laurentio (Nicholas de) son to the former
Francis Elrington Ball's A History of the County Dublin, Volume 5, Chapter 3 (1917), contains a lengthy and detailed account of the St Lawrence family. His principal source was "the Book of Howth, a sixteenth-century compilation of annals, historical tales, and legends, which is preserved in the Lambeth Library, and has been printed in the Carew Series of State Papers, but doubt has been thrown on its authenticity, owing to the compiler drawing inspiration from the Arthurian legend, and stating that Almeric was promised by John de Courcy half his conquests."
