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    The Little Book of Youghal
    The Little Book of Youghal
    The Little Book of Youghal
    Ebook195 pages2 hours

    The Little Book of Youghal

    By Kieran Groeger

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    About this ebook

    Did you Know?

    • St Mary’s Collegiate Church claims to be the single oldest church in Ireland to have been in constant use over the centuries. The original roof, dating to c.1200, is still in situ.
    • It was Thomas Harriott of Youghal who first brought potatoes and tobacco back from America. He took them to London, where Walter Raleigh introduced them to Queen Elizabeth I.
    • In 1954, part of the Hollywood film Moby Dick was filmed in Youghal.

    Through main thoroughfares and twisting back streets, The Little Book of Youghal takes the reader on a journey through this historic seaside resort and its vibrant past. Here you will find out about the town’s changes though the ages, its people and industries.

    A reliable reference and a quirky guide, this book can be dipped into time and again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage and the secrets of this historic town.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe History Press
    Release dateDec 8, 2016
    ISBN9780750981569
    The Little Book of Youghal

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      Book preview

      The Little Book of Youghal - Kieran Groeger

      INTRODUCTION

      Some towns just … happen. One day you wouldn’t dream of the place as a suitable location, the next day it is perfect. It just happens! Youghal happened. The majestic River Blackwater broke its banks during a big storm in the early ninth century and found a new, more direct way to the sea. It used to meander slowly to what is today called Whiting Bay. The name in Irish (‘Béal Abha’ or ‘mouth of the river’) tells the story. Whiting Bay is between Youghal and Ardmore. Today, the old riverbed has dried up but is still visible.

      Suddenly on the western side of the river there was a fine area for Vikings to drag up their boats, to build a settlement, to protect it with walls and to build a church. There were fine vantage points where lookouts could be posted and a small community began to develop along the old ‘Bealcah Eo Choill’ – the old Yew Wood Way. Youghal came into existence. It just happened.

      The history of the town, as a town, can be attributed to a handful of people, in two main categories – those before and those after Walter Raleigh, whose image stands in the middle of the town, straddling the old world and the new. This is the opinion of Professor Tadhg O’Keeffe of UCD. The first period is dominated by the Fitzgerald dynasty, who took over an enormous segment of land for themselves (some 500,000 acres). They became totally dominant and increasingly independent of the English monarchy, which began to try to rein them in. Finally, a rebellion by the Fitzgeralds was ruthlessly and efficiently stamped out. Their land was given to English adventurers, soldiers and landlords, who were for the most part Protestant. From then on religion would also play a part in the history of Ireland.

      Approximately 40,000 acres were given to Walter Raleigh for his part in stamping out the rebellion. He stayed for a while but found it impossible to make money from the land. He had difficulties attracting English settlers, difficulties getting a licence to export timber and difficulties paying tax. The country had been devastated and depopulated by the Fitzgerald rebellion. He sold his land to Richard Boyle. This begins the second half of the town’s history, when a loyal and predominantly Protestant group try to maintain a vice-like grip on the town, despite an ever-increasing population of Catholics who are necessary traders and workers in the town and who begin to demand basic civil rights.

      Boyle’s descendants retained control over the Raleigh estate and the town of Youghal, almost until the Free State of Ireland was formed, in the early twentieth century At one stage there was no male Boyle inheritor, so the land went to the Cavendish family (Dukes of Devonshire) who still hold fishing rights, hunting rights and a substantial amount of land in the area.

      Major trouble blew up in 1641, which is referred to in the Annals of Youghal as the ‘Great Rebellion’. Richard Boyle and his sons played a major role in suppressing it, as did Admiral Penn and Oliver Cromwell, who eventually systematically and ruthlessly crushed all resistance to the armed forces of the English Parliament.

      Catholic hopes resurfaced in 1660, when the Stuart monarchy was restored. Catholics hoped for some restoration of their own rights and lands. For a short while there was a Catholic mayor and council in Youghal, but the defeat of King James at the Battle of the Boyne put an end to Catholic aspirations, although some hope lingered during the eighteenth century in the poetry of the people – as the poems of Piaras Mac Gearailt (1709–92) show, especially in his ‘Rosc Catha na Mumhan’ (the Battle Cry of Munster) a longing for the arrival of Bonny Prince Charlie and a better deal for his Catholic subjects.

      In 1798 there was another rebellion, mainly in Wexford, but there was some trouble in Youghal.

      In the nineteenth century Youghal saw the struggle for Catholic Emancipation. Daniel O’Connell’s son John became a Member of Parliament for Youghal. Events in Youghal included a campaign to repeal the Act of Union, the Great Famine, the Land War, the arrival of the railway, and a major economic bubble, which had a spectacular burst! And then in the twentieth century there was another boom, this time with the textile industry followed by another burst and another …

      Youghal struggled on, always boom followed by burst. This is the story of Youghal.

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