Site of the Viking & Norman Battle 1177AD
At the Entrance to Howth - Just outside the Dart (Train Station)
10 August 1177: The Battle of the Bridge of Evora was fought on this day. The battle took place at this spot - Sir John de Courcy sent a force ashore under the command of Sir Armoricus Tristram - a knight from Brittany. Their opponents were descendants of Vikings who had taken over the area centuries before. The port of Howth was a prize worth having as it was one of the best landing places to the north of Dublin at that time. Howth comes from the Norse word for a headland and is still the name today for this penninsula that dominates the skyline of north county Dublin. The old Irish name is Binn Éadair - or Eadairs Peak.
A desperate battle was fought at "The Bridge of Evora," which crossed "The Evroa Stream," flowing into the sea near the railway station - Lots of Blood Ran into the Stream and it was later renamed the Bloody Stream - after heavy losses on both sides, the natives were completely defeated. This battle having been fought on 10th August (Feast of St. Laurence), the Tristram family, in commemoration of the event, thereafter assumed the name of St. Lawrence.
Armoricus was granted much of the land between the village and Sutton. He built his first castle near the harbour and the St. Lawrence link remains even today. The original title of Baron of Howth was granted to Armoricus 'St. Lawrence' by Henry II of England in 1181, for one knight's fee.