Editing Howth (section)

==Nature==
===Natural features===
Howth Head is one of the dominant features of [[Dublin Bay]], with a number of peaks, the highest of which is Black Linn. In one area, near Shielmartin, there is a small peat bog, the "Bog of the Frogs". The wilder parts of Howth can be accessed by a network of paths (many are rights of way) and much of the centre and east is protected as part of a Special Area of Conservation of {{convert|2.3|km2|acre}}, as well as by a Special Amenity Area Order.

The peninsula has a number of small, fast-running streams, three of which run through the village, with more, including the Bloody Stream, in the adjacent Howth Demesne. The streams passing through the village are, from east to west, Coulcour Brook (falling to Balscadden Bay), Gray's Brook or the Boggeen Stream (falling to the eastern end of the harbour), and Offington Stream (passing under Findlater's to the western side of the harbour). Other streams are met along the cliff walks, including the Whitewater Brook, with a tributary in a sunken area of plants and ponds, and then the Balsaggart Stream.<ref>Dublin: 2013, Doyle, J.W., "Ten Dozen Waters: The Rivers of County Dublin" - 8th edition</ref>

[[File:Howth lighthouse.jpg|thumb|left|Howth Lighthouse and Ireland's Eye]]
The island of [[Ireland's Eye]], part of the Special Area of Conservation, lies about a kilometre north of Howth harbour, with [[Lambay Island]] some 5&nbsp;km further to the north. A [[Martello tower]] exists on each of these islands with another tower overlooking Howth harbour (opened as a visitor centre and [[Ye Olde Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio]] on 8 June 2001<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://homepage.eircom.net/~HowthSuttonLions/environment.htm | title=Howth Martello Tower - Museum & Visitor Centre | website=Howth Sutton Lions Club | access-date=11 March 2006 | archive-date=16 January 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060116210731/http://homepage.eircom.net/~HowthSuttonLions/environment.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>) and another tower at Red Rock, Sutton. These are part of a series of towers built around the coast of Ireland during the 19th century.
[[File:Howth - Fisher's Cross.jpg|thumb|left|Fisher's Cross]]

===Special amenity area order (SAAO)===
More than half of Howth Head, and of the Howth area, totalling around 1,500 acres, is subject to a Special Amenity Area Order, a provision of Irish law designed to protect areas of natural beauty or biodiversity. Prepared by the local authority, after a consultative process under a community environmental process known as SEMPA,<ref>Swords, County Dublin: Fingal County Council, 2001: Explanatory Note to the Howth Head SAAO, "This document and the SAAO have been supported by an extensive public participation programme conducted by the SEMPA project, under the auspices of Fingal County Council and Dublin Corporation, with the assistance of Howth-Sutton 2000 and the Natural Resources Development Centre of Trinity College."</ref> and formally proposed by [[Brendan Howlin]] as a minister, the order was developed in cooperation with a unit of [[Trinity College Dublin]]. It was made in 1999, confirmed in 2000, and is subject to 5-yearly reviews, the most recent having been conducted in 2015.<ref>Swords, County Dublin: 15 May 2015, ref. CVQ-1491, Howth Special Amenity Order Management Committee to Fingal County Council, "Submission to the Pre-Draft Fingal Development Plan 2017 – 2023 (Stage 1)"</ref> At the time of its making the majority of the lands covered formed part of the Howth Estate, with the other significant landowners being developers Treasury Holdings (85 hectares) and Gerry Gannon (33 hectares), and Howth Golf Club (48 hectares). The Council stated that the order was needed to protect the environment of the designated area by restricting development there, while recognising the need "to encourage tourism-related developments in the remainder of Howth".<ref name="SAAO 1">{{cite news |title=Tight restrictions would apply over half of peninsula |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/tight-restrictions-would-apply-over-half-of-peninsula |access-date=10 January 2020 |work=The Irish Times |date=8 June 1998}}</ref>

The SAAO area runs from the vicinity of Bottle Quay northeast to Muck Rock, east to the reservoir at Balkill, east and south around the Loughoreen Hills and Black Linn, then to the Summit, turning north along the line of the Coulcour Brook, then taking in a narrow part of Howth village, including the Martello Tower and East Pier, and Ireland's Eye.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fingal.ie/howth-special-amenity-area-order|year=1999|website=[[Fingal County Council]]|title=Howth Head Special Amenity Area Order|at=including Map B|access-date=30 July 2020|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801072236/https://www.fingal.ie/howth-special-amenity-area-order|url-status=live}}</ref> It also covers a network of over 20&nbsp;km of designated footpaths and rights of way, and it was stated that "all existing scenic views and prospects from the entire length of public footpaths and roads in the area are to be protected".<ref name="SAAO 1"/>

Fingal County Council explained the need for the order, noting that between the 1940s and the present day "Howth has been transformed from a rural area to a suburban extension of Dublin city" and that its natural or "semi-natural" areas had shrunk from over 70% to around 40% of land area, while highly developed areas had risen from 14% to 30%.<ref name="SAAO 1"/>

===Flora and fauna===
As a semi-isolated area, Howth's flora and fauna have been studied in some detail, and a ''Flora of Howth'', for example, was issued in 1887.<ref name="Flora_Hart">{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=H. C. |title=The Flora of Howth |date=1887 |publisher=Hodges Figgis |location=Dublin, Ireland |edition=1st}}</ref>