208 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



devotes his attention, at Howth an ample field for its study 

 may be found ; and after a day spent there, even though no 

 discovery has attended his researches, the true lover of Na- 

 ture will return to his allotted post in the world with the sure 

 reward of increased serenity of mind, perhaps with a deepened 

 sense of his own ignorance and littleness, but with higher 

 and more worthy conceptions of the wondrous universe of 

 God. 



If the visitor to Howth has antiquarian tastes, he will find 

 much to interest him. The detached conical rock on which 

 the Bailey Lighthouse stands was formerly crowned by the 

 fortress of King Crimhthann, celebrated in early Irish his- 

 tory : he is said to have died in the ninth year of the Chris- 

 tian era, and his sepulchral cairn is still pointed out on the 

 summit of Slieve Martin. Two lines of ancient fortification, 

 each consisting of a mound and fosse, enclose the narrow end 

 of the promontory, and the lighthouse rock at the extreme 

 point : here the Danes, after their defeat at the Battle of 

 Clontarf, in the year 1014, are said to have fortified them- 

 selves, and held out until carried off by their vessels. 



At the foot of Carrick-More there is a cromlech which is 

 ■worth a visit, and in the village of Howth a fine ruined abbey 

 of the twelfth century. 



About a mile to the north of Howth lies the rocky island 

 of Ireland's Eye : it contains little to tempt the naturalist 

 specially, being principally pasture-land ; but there are 

 curious monastic ruins, said to date back to the sixth cen- 

 tury, and it was the residence of the Irish Saint Nessan, of 

 whom the following stoiy is recorded in Colgan's * Acta 

 Sanctorum,' in explanation of the rude outline of a human 

 figure on a detached cliff, called Puck's Rock, on the northern 

 shore of Howth. 



Saint Nessan was assailed on Ireland's Eye by an evil spirit 

 of frightful aspect. The saint by good fortune was reading 

 the holy book called 'The Garland of Howth :' as his enemy 

 approached he struck him with the book, and drove him with 

 such force against the opposite coast of Howth that the evil 

 spirit was firmly fixed in a fissure of the rock, where he has 

 now remained for twelve centuries, vainly struggling to extri- 

 cate himself. 



There are several hotels in the village of Howth, but if the 



