The Quay’s Bar Youghal celebrated its 8th Birthday. Please go inside to see the picture gallery of the event. Read more

Youghal is hanging up on the public telephone box with all kiosks to be removed from the streets of the town in the coming months. Photo Kieran McCarthy (YoughalOnline.com)

The nearest alternate payphone is located in the Square, Dungarvan! The once familiar and iconic site of the illuminated payphone on the streets and estates of the town looks set to be the stuff of nostalgia. This means there will be no more public phone service in East Cork’s leading tourist town especially for visitors who do not have mobile phones. Interested parties are invited to submit their views in relation to the proposed removal in writing before 16th March 2009. Please contact- S. Culbert, Regional Payphone Manager, Eircom HQ, Waterford City, Co. Waterford.
Eircom said it will disconnect and remove 2,151 of the remaining 4,850 public payphones dotted around the country’s, starting in April. In the early 1990s, there were more than 8,500 public payphones across the Republic. Read more

At the January meeting of Youghal Town Council, Cllr Liam Burke, seconded by Cllr Mayor Olly Casey, brought forward the motion: That the council calls on the Government to consider the purchase of the Kathleen & May as a replacement sail-training vessel’ (for the Asgard II) -Report Christy Parker/Photo Michael Hussey (YoughalOnline.com)

Cllr Burke said there is a serious question as to whether the Asgard, which sank last year in the Bay of Biscay, will ever be salvaged. Instead, he believed, the wooden, three-masted schooner the Kathleen & May would prove a worthy and suitable replacement. The historic ship is currently for sale and in danger of being lost to this part of the world entirely. He noted the asking price is £3m, while the Asgard was insured for €3.8m and the current sterling rate made its purchase attractive. The motion was passed.

The Town Clerk said a previous request to the government to buy the ship, prior to the Asgard sinking, had not elicited a formal reply. Read more

Road flooding was discussed at the January meeting of Youghal Town Council. Mayor Olly Casey said the ponding (i.e. flooding) in the vicinity of Nagle House was “an absolute disgrace”. Report Christy Parker / Photo Michael Hussey (YoughalOnline.com)

He described it as dangerous for cars and a recurring nightmare for pedestrians who risked getting soaked and also projects a poor image of the town. It would make one “ashamed” to be associated with it, proceeded the former water curator before adding that it would not take a work of genius to resolve the problem by digging access to a gulley or creating a new gulley. A similar situation persisted at Gallagher’s Terrace he added. The Mayor concluded that the green walls on Nagle House are turning further green through algae generated by splashing. Town engineer Paul Murray said the issue will be resolved “in a month or so” along with the Quarry Road and Gallagher’s Terrace. Read more

It is time for some laughter and fun in Inch Community Centre again, and Inch Drama Groups ‘Anyone Could Rob a Bank’ a farce, by Tom Coffey is just what the doctor ordered. The play is set in the kitchen of Badger Greys house Photo: Michael Hussey (YoughalOnline.com)

Badger is played by Anthony Flavin and his hair-brained wife Sarah played by Mary Colbert, their pretty and flirtatious daughter played by Teresa Riordan who has a crush on the local Sergeant played by Pakie O’Mahony, but she is also attracted to Tony, a business man, played by John Hurley who is in town for a few days. Then there is Jerreen, Badgers brother played by Michael Riordan Jnr. (the local coffin maker) and Mickey, their nephew, played by Padraig Walsh a wanna-be boxer who is an apprentice to Jerreen, and to complete the crew there is Windy, Badger’s next door neighbour and local butcher played by Brendan Walsh. We welcome Brendan and Padraig Walsh – father and son – to our cast for the first time Read more

The Nook Bar and local band ‘Mangan’s Men’ and Special Guests New Years Day fundraiser in aid of Chernobyl Children’s Trust and Chernobyl Aid Ireland
By Michael Hussey/Photo Michael Hussey(YoughalOnline.com)

Michael Treacy, proprietor of The Nook Bar, Keith Ansbro and Richard Foley from the popular local group Mangan’s Men present the cheque of  €2,200 to the Chernobyl children with Sammy and Kate Revins representing the Chernobyl Children’s Trust and Clodagh Madden from Chernobyl Aid Ireland with volunteers and supporters outside Treacy’s Pub- The Nook. The monies raised was from the kind generosity of the the band, The Treacy family and the customers of The Nook at the New Year’s Day party which was held in the pub.
Chernobyl Children’s Trust and Chernobyl Aid Ireland are non-profit charities set up and run by volunteers to help children and families most affected by Read more

Christy Parker talks to a Youghal writer whose debut novel is set to rules the waves.

The writing talents of Youghal man John Stack are poised for global recognition as his debut novel hits the shelves this month. Top publishers Harper Collins won the rights to his book, Ship of Rome, and have commissioned a further two novels to form a trilogy called Masters of the Sea. The series, “a historical fiction” is set in the Punic wars waged between the emerging Roman navy and the Carthaginian Empire from 264-201 BC.

John, 36, is the son of Gerry and Kitty Stack, Kilcoran Park and lives near Rochestown with wife Adrienne, daughter Zoe, seven and two year-old twins Amy and Andrew. His commission carries a six-figure sum over four years.

It would be entirely apt if John’s books proved ‘moving’ -as he writes from the passenger seat of his green Opel Zafira! He struggled with domestic distraction when embarking on Ship of Rome in March 2007 and achieved a semblance of a solution by using a friend’s house. One day, on forgetting his key, he drove to a nearby car-park overlooking Cork harbour and started up his laptop. There, doors locked, he found “perfect privacy.” Furthermore, he had “the option of a Read more

A section of Youghal’s ancient town walls, which caved in last spring has crumbled further. The fresh damage is “‘far more substantial than the original collapse”, says Town Clerk Liam Ryan, a member and and former chairman of the Irish Walled Towns Network. BY Christy Parker/ Photo Michael Hussey (YoughalOnline.com)

The damaged portion measures approximately 20ft by 6 on a 400 metre long section at Raheen Park, overlooking the northern end of the town. Mr Ryan attributes the damage to very heavy rain on foot of two weeks of cold, dry weather. “That brought a lot of contraction and expansion,” he explains.

The walls date from the early 13th century and are essentially a series of walls within each other, having been simply widened as a fortress through the centuries. They form a crucial part of Youghal’s heritage and tourism profile and in recent years have been restored and made more accessible under the town’s Heritage Plan.

The fresh breach in the structure renders the immediate sides more vulnerable. A €1/2m funding application to the Heritage Council at the Department of Environment still awaits Ministerial approval. “There were some technical difficulties but I think they are almost resolved now,” says Mr. Ryan. He doesn’t expect the new damage to Read more

deValera Street residents availed of the opportunity to air their views on the streets permit parking dilemma when they met with Town Clerk Liam Ryan at the council’s offices last Thursday. About a dozen residents attended the meeting, which was organised by Cllr Mary Linehan Foley. -By Christy Parker/Photo Michael Hussey (YoughalOnline.com)

Cllr Liam Burke also attended, though Mayor Olly Casey was absent. Cllrs Burke and Casey have argued vehemently for 17 designated spaces (out of 37) to be allocated to the residents when the new car park eventually opens, in lieu of their vehicles being removed from the street. The initiative was passed by the council but later deemed impractical and possibly illegal by legal opinion.

The meeting resulted in the residents proposing a compromise whereby they would forego designated spaces in return for permits that would allow them to avail of the car park indefinitely, spaces permitting, as well as retain their current option of parking on the laneway. The lane would become one-way (upwards) with, by consequence, traffic accessing the main street being routed down Church Lane.

Before being sanctioned, the proposals will need to meet the acceptance of the street’s other residents, the emergency services and, possibly, residents in Church Lane. The latter consideration may -or may not- provoke debate, given the street’s narrow dimensions and the Read more

Youghal’s hopes of hosting the P1 World Powerboat Championships are not going to be realised this year but the aspiration is not a dead duck in the water for future years, according to events organiser Aidan Foley. – By Christy Parker

The Ardmore-based businessman is part of the Medaza consortium that holds the northern European rights to the race series from 2009-13. “The P1 management say they are disappointed we could not hold a race this year but have reassured us that the door remains open for the future,” he says.

There will be no northern European leg of the series in 2009, which is which is modelled on the Formula 1 Grand Prix world circuit and runs form March to September. Read more