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Youghal is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. As of the 2016 census, the population was 7,963.[1] As a historic walled seaport town on the coastline of East Cork, and close to a number of beaches, it has been a tourist destination since the mid-19th century. There are a number of historic buildings and monuments within the town's walls, and Youghal is among a small number of towns designated as "Irish Heritage Ports" by the Irish Tourist Board. [edit] History and architecture
Youghal received its charter of incorporation in 1209, but the history of settlement on the site is longer, with Viking settlements dating back to the 11th century, the Church of Coran in the town's western suburbs dating from the 5th century, and evidence of Neolithic habitation at nearby Newport. Older buildings in the town include Sir Walter Raleigh's home "Myrtle Grove" and the St Mary's Collegiate Church, thought to have been founded by St. Declan around 450. The church was rebuilt in Irish Romanesque style in about 750, and a great Norman nave was erected in about 1220. It is one of the few remaining medieval churches in Ireland to have remained in continuous use as a place of worship. The Vikings used Youghal as a base for their raids on monastic sites along the south coast of Ireland, and a stone in St Mary's Collegiate Church bears the ancient etched outline of a longboat. Since the 16th-century Plantation of Munster it has been the place of worship of the Church of Ireland congregation of Youghal and its surrounding areas. The Sack of Youghal took place on 13 November 1579. As the centre of English power in south Munster the town was badly damaged during the Second Desmond Rebellion when it was sacked by the forces of Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond, who massacred the garrison, hanged the English officials, and looted the homes of Youghal's townspeople. The revenge killings that followed this included that of a priest, Daniel O'Neilan, OSF, on 28 March 1580. He was fastened round the waist with a rope and thrown with weights tied to his feet from one of the town-gates at Youghal, finally fastened to a mill-wheel and torn to pieces. The first record of the walls is a charter of 1275, granted by King Edward I, for their repair and extension.
Tynte's Castle – a late 15th-century urban tower house. It is almost the only fortified relic of the era now in Youghal. It was built by the Walsh family in 1602 and leased by the corporation to the Tynte family towards the end of the reign of King James I. It is shown in a map of Youghal dated 1663 as one of the defences of the town. The building was passed down through the Tynte family and is now the property of the McCarthy family.
Youghal was the first town in Ireland or Britain to have a Jewish mayor when William Annyas was elected to that position in 1555; and the town's small but significant Huguenot settlement provided a number of mayors such as Richard Paradise (1683), Edward Gillett (1721) and Joseph Labatte (1752) Youghal Priory – In 1350, the monastery of St John the Evangelist was founded. It was an affiliated branch of the wealthy Benedictine Priory of St. John of Waterford. The main priory building appears to have been intended to combine a fortress with a religious retreat. Oliver Cromwell fixed his residence at the Priory of St. John's on the main street in winter 1649.[4] Myrtle Grove – When Sir Walter Raleigh reputedly brought the first potatoes from Virginia to Ireland in 1585, he planted them at his home at Myrtle Grove, Youghal. For the following two years he was mayor of the town. Queen Elizabeth I granted him of land in Youghal. He lived at Myrtle Grove, where he entertained the poet Edmund Spenser. In the gardens are four yew trees said to have been planted by Raleigh. Raleigh made his final trip from Cork to the West Indies in 1617.
Youghal Lighthouse – In 1202, the Geraldine proprietors of the town built a lighthouse on the cliff at the west side of the mouth's harbour. The original tower was seven-and-a half metres tall and three metres in diameter. They also endowed a nunnery called the Chapel of St. Annes under the condition that the nuns should see that the light was regularly maintained. The nuns did so until the reformation in the 1530s, when the lighthouse and the convent were confiscated. The beacon was discontinued in about 1542. The current lighthouse, made from granite imported from Scotland, was designed by George Halpin and work began on its construction in 1848. It was not until February 1852 that the harbour light was first displayed. The lantern is above sea level. [edit] Port and harbourAccording to Geoffrey Keating (Seathrún Céitinn), in late March 830 there was a "great convulsion of nature" in the province of Munster. This changed the flow of the River Blackwater moving its mouth from Whiting Bay and forming the harbour of Youghal. 1,010 people were lost by a fierce storm when the sea broke its banks. Soon afterwards in 853 a detachment from the Viking invasion built a fortress in Youghal and laid the foundation of a commercial seaport. In 1130, St Bernard writes of Lismore as the capital city of Munster and describes Youghal as the port of Lismore.
In 1353, the freeman of Youghal were allowed freedom in trade in different staples throughout England and Wales for wool, leather, woolfels and lead. In 1360 Writs signed by Almaricus de St Åland, Justiciary of Ireland, were directed to Sovereign and Bailiffs of Youghal, ordering them to prevent persons from going to foreign parts. In 1373 King Edward III commanded the Keeper of the port to press and detain ships in the port for the purposes of conveying James Le Botiller, Earl of Ormond, whenever the Earl may come to the port on the King's services. In 1376 the same King granted the Mayor of Youghal privileges for services against rebels in Cork. In the same year the merchants and commons of Youghal complained to Edward about the dangers of having to go to Cork to pay customs, and succeeded in arranging a new customs system for paying in Youghal.
By 1640 tobacco, originally introduced by Raleigh, had so fixed itself on the habits of the people, that it now formed one of the staples of trade at Youghal port. Oliver Cromwell, having regained Dublin, Wexford and Waterford for the English rule, arrived in Youghal on 6 December 1649. After resting for the winter in Youghal, Cromwell and his army crossed the Blackwater at Mallow and went on to yield Kilkenny and Clonmel before returning to Youghal and later England where Charles II had arrived. 1683 and 1684 saw great sickness and death in Youghal. In 1689 by order of King James II colonisers with a "zealous attachment to the Protestant religion" were rounded up and detained in castles in Youghal where they were held for 12 months before being released to flee back to England. In 1695, having made an ingenious sundial, a schoolmaster was admitted as a freeman of Youghal. When Protestants of France were compelled to leave their own country by Louis XIV in 1697 many came to Ireland and settled in Youghal, bringing industry, intelligence and wealth. By 1716 Youghal council began inserting covenants into leases of ground skirted by the waterside, binding the leases to build quays. Gradually great enclosures from the sea were made which doubled the area of the town. In the 1700s the Red House, a William and Mary style house, was built; it still survives with many original features. In 1727, the Irish were permitted to trade in the town as scarcity and famine swept the country. There were riots in Youghal as people sought to prevent the export of corn to England and other parts of Ireland. Great sickness and mortality continued through 1734. In 1736 and 1745 the town walls were extensively repaired and in 1745 the Sally-port was remade.
In 1762 a French privateer took six ships near the harbour. The commander landed 24 passengers on the Island of Ballycotton and took the remainder with him as recruits for Colonel Owen's regiment. The cutter Expedition was sent in pursuit but did not come up with them. By 1780 wool combining business was carried on with great spirit in Youghal, where the Annals tell us "great fortunes were realised". Exports from Youghal were extensive in 1781, with more oats being exported than from any other port in Ireland. Nealson's Quay was built and commenced the following year. Grattan Street was opened along the quay that had been embanked. In 1833, nine ships and 440 colliers entered the harbour. In 1834, there were 250 fishing boats in the harbour employing 2,500 men. Salmon was plentiful and was sold for 1d per pound weight. After many years of discussion and feasibility testing, the steamer The Star commenced plying on the Blackwater in June 1843. It was hoped that opening the Blackwater would reduce trade costs with Lismore, Fermoy, Mitchelstown and Mallow. On an objection from the Duke of Devonshire – who owned the weir at Lismore – and some other gentlemen, the river was not opened beyond Lismore, and so the steamer service ceased in 1850. The following year the Youghal Fisheries District had over 500 registered vessels employing over 2,700 men. From the 18th century onwards, and as with nearby Ardmore, some larger ships were unable to get into Youghal Harbour, because of a shallow sandbar at its mouth.
In the 1950s, most exterior shots of "New Bedford" in John Huston's movie adaptation of Moby Dick were filmed in Youghal, as New Bedford itself had changed too much in the intervening century to be usable for this purpose. Youghal International College, a private international (Spanish) school, was opened in Youghal in 1992.
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