Youghal Municipal Heritage Committee are a proactive, enthusiastic, voluntary group who have the interests of the town of Youghal at heart.    They work tirelessly to organise events which will not only entertain the people of Youghal, but will also attract people from the East Cork/West Waterford areas to the town, along with as many tourists as possible.   The group are innovative, with lots of exciting ideas about events and festivals, and rather than sit back and talk about them, they get up and do it. Denise FitzGerald Reports  Photo: Bobby White and Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

Greenpark, Youghal was the venue for Medieval Day on Sunday, August 30th last, having been postponed from the previous week due to bad weather.   Every possible effort was made by the Heritage Committee to make this a spectacular day, and everything was organised down to a fine art – stall holders were contacted, jousting tournaments arranged, costumes organised, catering planned – in fact, nothing was left to chance except, of course, the weather!   And there was certainly nothing whatsoever the Heritage Group could do about this.
Events were planned to coincide with The Irish Walled Towns Network celebrations of National Heritage Week. Celebrations kicked off at 12.00pm in the ‘Medieval Quarter’ with the reknowned ‘Freelance Knights of Redemption’ undertaking a full weaponry and fighting display.

The East Cork Journal went along to Greenpark on Sunday, and the first sight of the area was amazing.   The entire Greenpark was dotted with the various tents, stalls, locals and visitors alike dressed in medieval attire, a whole lamp roasting on a spit, music, bouncy castle, wonderful food cooking over camp fires, balloons, ribbons and colour – and the infernal rain dripping down on all.

However, those who did come along to Greenpark (albeit with their umbrellas and rain gear) had the most wonderful time.   Nothing was left out of an event which was top drawer for imagination, skills, entertainment and fun.   The visitors walked around to the various stalls, watched the medieval enactment in the centre of the park, ate candyfloss and burgers, and tried out the ‘wet sponge’ (the extra wetness did not seem to matter). The ‘Kids Kingdom’ this year played host to ‘Mumbo Jumbo’s’ Circus Workshop. The area was a flurry of excitement and activity as kids of all ages  learned how to stilt-walk or ride a unicycle! A key feature of this year’s event was ‘Maid Marion’s Food & Craft Fair, – with traders recreating a colourful atmosphere of a noisy medieval marketplace.

All in all, a most unusual and enjoyable event which was a credit to the Youghal Municipal Heritage Committee. More photos of the event in this weeks East Cork Journal ( Wed 2nd Sept. 2009) at your local newsagent.
Click on image to see the Medieval Fun Day Event

Tune in to Fair City on this Thursday night, September 3rd, to see Youghal’s own Brian Hogan make his debut in what we sincerely hope will be the start of a long and successful T.V. career for him.

Brian Hogan was born and reared in Youghal, the son of Noel and Assumpta Hogan.   He attended school in the local CBS and it was before leaving school that he got interested in acting.   However, he put his interest to one side and went about life in various different jobs and positions.   Then, when he was in his late 20’s he was asked if he would be interested in playing a small part in the John B Keane show, Many Young Men of 20, which was held in the Walter Raleigh, Youghal. Denise FitzGerald Reports  Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

Brian told the East Cork Journal that it was as if a light had come on his life when he played that part, and he knew that his future would have to be as an actor.   So started a range of different courses with the Gaiety School of Acting which took over two years, every day of which Brian enjoyed.   He attended interviews with the Everyman Theatre and in Dublin with the Fair City productions.  This led to film and TV courses, and ultimately an audition in 2008 for a part in Fair City.   Nothing came of this and Brian had almost given up hope when, out of the blue about a month ago, Brian received a phone call offering him a part in a scene of Fair City and telling him that no audition was necessary – he was through!     The excitement was intense and Brian was delighted to travel to Dublin for rehearsals.

Brian accounted his experiences to the East Cork Journal and said that when he walked into rehearsals on Monday last, he was greeted by the Director and Producer with a welcoming ‘hello’.   Sitting there reading through his part, he said he felt as if he knew every one of the actors personally, even though he was thinking of them in terms of their stage name and their character part in Fair City.   The friendship and welcome which they extended to him was amazing, and made him feel part of the show immediately.

Brian confided that his part is that of a character named Vince Matthews who, in Brian’s own words, “is a bit of a con man”.   This Vince guy meets Orla  (Sorcha Furlong) on a blind date in a pub and charms her to bits.   Then, rogue that he is, he deliberately spills wine on her dress and when Orla makes a dash to the Ladies to clean up, he robs her handbag!!   Nice one, Brian.
Tune in to Fair City on this Thursday night, September 3rd, to see Youghal’s own Brian Hogan make his debut in what we sincerely hope will be the start of a long and successful T.V. career for him.
Read more in this weeks edition of The East Cork Journal this wednesday 2nd Sept. 2009

Gillian Howe, daughter of Sidney and Breeda,  and Ellen Danagher, daughter of Thomas and Anne Marie, have a lot in common, despite their approximate ten years age difference.   They are both from Youghal, born and bred.   They both live in the same area of Youghal,  in Cork Hill. They attended the same schools, and they probably had the same teachers for some of the time.   They each have relatives whose livelihoods depended on the seas. Denise FitzGerald Reports Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

Gillian’s grandfather, Billy Riordan, was a salmon fisherman (in those halycon days when one was permitted to fish,) and is very well known and popular in the town of Youghal.   Ellen’s Dad, Thomas, spent approximately seventeen years serving in the Navy.  Gillian and Ellen also share a great love and respect for the sea which they both contribute, in part, to growing up listening to their Dad/Grandad telling their seafaring stories and adventures.

Two years ago, they each decided separately to join the Youghal RNLI as volunteers, and it was here that they really got to know each other.   Volunteers are known as Shore Crew, and for the past two years, they have been involved in the everyday running of the Lifeboat Station.  Their duties included refuelling and maintenance of the boats, cleaning and familiarising themselves with the equipment, and wearing pagers to answer any calls of distress.   Each girl has been out on several exercises on the boats, and they each attended one call to a rescue.

The East Cork Journal have been informed, however, that the main criteria needed for volunteers is a total commitment and dedication to becoming a member of the RNLI.   Training is highly expensive, and the volunteers have to be absolutely certain that they still want to dedicate themselves to the saving and rescue of lives at sea.  This is the reason for the two year period, which is somewhat like a trial period, to ensure that the volunteer is genuine, committed and dedicated.  And this is where Gillian and Ellen have even more in common.   They both have this total commitment.  They are both dedicated to being a member of the Youghal RNLI, and to achieve this, they are together setting off to complete an intensive, difficult and exhaustive training course in the Lifeboat College which is situated in Poole, Dorset, U.K.

This intense course will last for five days.  The Lifeboat College is the home of crew training in the RNLI.  Approx 2,000 crew pass through the College annually to participate in one or more of the 36 curse currently on offer. This is not a course for having a good time, or taking a week off to relax.  In fact, some of the exercises which the girls will cover on the course include Chart work, Boat Handling, Tough Water Training and Capsize Drill.   The training is hard and relentless and only the best succeed.

When the East Cork Journal asked the girls how they felt about doing the course, Gillian said she had the full backing of her family, and she was looking forward to going to Poole to learn as much as she could.  She laughingly said it could not be as hard as some of the things in her life at the moment, as she has so much going on that it’s not funny.   Ellen, on the other hand, said she loves everything to do with the sea and the water, which isn’t anything as scary or boring as doing her Leaving Cert this year.

Noreen Varney,   Youghal Lifeboat Press officer, told the East Cork Journal that “this training is what turns a volunteer from someone who is willing to save lives, into someone who can do it safely and well.”  There is no doubt that these two exceptional Youghal girls, Gillian Howe and Ellen Donagher, intend to do just that.

An important archive of historical photographs of Youghal and surrounding areas has been donated to Cork County Library and Arts Service and is being made accessible to the public for the first time in Youghal Library. Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

This important collection of nearly nine hundred photographs was made by various members of the Horgan family who for many years ran a successful photographic business in Youghal and who also operated one of the cinemas in the town. Reaching back to the 1890’s, the Horgan Collection is a unique and invaluable collection of photographs which records the landscape, streetscape and social history of Youghal into the twentieth century

Speaking to a very large gathering of people in Youghal Library at the launch of the collection on Thursday evening, Cork County Librarian, Ruth Flanagan thanked the members of the Horgan family for their generosity in making the entire collection available to the public through the Library Service. She noted that the Horgan collection is a priceless historical document that depicts the town of Youghal, the Blackwater river, Ardmore and many other areas and its importance for its representation of the social and commercial life in the area, through vivid images of maritime, agricultural, leisure and tourism activities.

Jim Horgan talked about the beginnings of the Horgan family involvement in photography and film and showed a series of images giving an overview of the extent of the collection.  Frank Mills, Liam and Michael Coveney also spoke about the maritime heritage of Youghal and the Blackwater using photographs from the collection to illustrate their talks.

In accepting this donation Cork County Council have preserved and conserved all of the images in the collection.  These images have now been digitally recorded and will in due course be available for members of the public to view in Youghal Library

The collection is launched as part of National Heritage week celebrations.  During the week a selection of photographic prints will be on view as well as continuous slideshow of digitised images on a public access computer.

For further information contact 021 546499 or email arts@corkcoco.ie

Click on image to see who was at the launch of the Horgan Collection

Gardai in East Cork will continue to operate the current high level of random checkpoints into October, Youghal garda Barry Storey told listeners to the force’s Saturday report on Community Radio Youghal. The garda said up to three checkpoints a night maybe conducted in specific targeting of drink driving. Christy Parker reports

The ratio of cars stopped depends on the level of traffic, he added. The checks are dictated by Midleton Superintendent Flor Horan but, it emerged, a breath test conducted even one minute outside the allocated time can result in a subsequent failure to convict.

Slippery roads…

Meanwhile Garda Storey urged drivers to respect greasy road conditions due to the fluctuating dry/wet weather patterns. He said a Waterford-bound car recently skidded and crashed while negotiating the sharp bend into Youghal bridge and a van and trailer jack-knifed on the Youghal bypass in similar circumstances.

Traffic jams…

Traffic on Youghal’s main street is at times barely moving, let alone skidding, due to illegal parking on double yellow lines, the garda proceeded. “One car obstructing traffic like this can prevent a bus or truck from passing and cause a tailback for half an hour,” he said, “I’d urge drivers to use car parks.”

Petrol thefts…

Drivers filling and departing without petrol stations without paying has become increasingly prevalent in the Youghal area. Detection is relatively high however due to CCTV on forecourts.

Dud cheques…

Bouncing cheques are also in increasing problem for businesses generally in the area, and the garda advised retailers not to accept cheques from strangers unless fully assured that there funds to meet them.

Angela Walsh Cork Ladies Football ‘08 Captain launches Amnesty Cork group’s Ladies Mini Marathon
Campaign.The mini marathon is on Sunday at Sept 27th at 1pm. Ring 1850 882 400, email marathon@amnesty.ie or text 087 2070737 for your sponsorship pack. Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

Angela launched the Amnesty Cork group’s campaign on Thur 27th Aug. outside The Walter Raleigh Hotel with the help of local Youghal ladies Arianna Linder, Aisling Siochrú, Jenny Poynton and Phil Irwin from The Walter Raleigh Hotel-Youghal.

The money raised will help fund the ongoing human rights work, including the new campaign to End FMG or Female Genital Mutilation in Europe.
Female genital mutilation comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female
external gential or other injury to the female genital organs for non – medical reasons.

Its estimated that 500,000 women and girls living in Europe have been subjected to female genital
mutilation aimed at controlling their sexuality and can leave the victim with life long pain or severe
medical complications. More on www.amnesty.ie take part in the marathon to end this torture.

Contact;  Angela Walsh ‘08 captain and ‘09 player

Jay Flavin, Group Co Ordinator.
087 8128236
Amnesty International – Cork  Group

Arianna Linder, Aisling Siochrú, Cork ladies football '08 captain Angela Walsh, Jenny Poynton and Phil Irwin get ready for the Cork Ladies Mini Marathon which will be held on Sunday 27th Sept.

The rock group, The Grip, are one of the best remembered and loved rock groups in the East Cork area, having had a huge following in the late 80’s.   At that time, they played in places such as Midleton, Bandon, Cork City, East Cork and of course here in Youghal town.The Grip have not played together for approximately eighteen years but due to huge demand, they agreed to play in Youghal for a reunion gig. Denise FitzGerald Reports   Photos: Ed Guiry/Gerard McCarthy and Michael Hussey for www.youghalonline.com

www.youghalonline.com and www.redtv.ie productions organised the gig, which took place in Youghal Rugby Football Club on Saturday night last, August 22nd.   Special guest on the night was Johnny Blue and his appearance was greeted with wild applause. Amazingly, people of all ages turned up including parents who arrived with their children, Of course, the fans of The Grip arrived in high expectation of a great night, and they most certainly were not disappointed.   The Grip played much of their own music, but also covered versions of famous bands which they performed in their own inimitable style.   The theme of the Band and youghalonline.com is “to support live local music”, and this they certainly did on August 24th last in Youghal Rugby Club when The Grip arrived to entertain the crowd.

Nostalgia was the word for the gig on Saturday night.   Along with the amazing music, there were many chats about the old days, the best days of our lives, the laughs and the memories.   But the young enjoyed the night as much as the older fans, and the dancing went on all night with the twinkle toes who never came off the floor.

A Raffle for a Grip t-shirt was held, won by Thomas Byrne who is a delighted fan of The Grip for many years.

The good news is that, because of the tremendous response and success of the night, the audience participation and delight, and the support which The Grip received, they have said they will consider playing there again soon.   Let’s hope it will be sooner rather than later.

Click on image to see The Grip reunion gig

A superb documentary just released by Ardmore sailor and fisherman Tony Gallagher will charm anyone with an affinity for the picturesque village, or for local history in general. Ardmore Now and Then is a 20-minute journey through both time and territory, led by the precise, lilting brogue of one of its own. Report Christy Parker Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

Tony, renowned for his informative and entertaining Blackwater cruises, turns his attention to his native village with enthralling effect. The footage, shot over four years, beautifully unfolds the tapestry of history, from early pre-Christian inscriptions, to the sandal-footed narrator himself signing off from Goat Island to the backing voice of Cara O’Sullivan’s poignant and profound ‘Last Rose of Summer.’

Most importantly, weaving wistfully through time, are the people that have shaped and shape the place named by St. Declan as Ard Mhor –‘High Place.’ For like a beckoning smile that pauses the traveller, Ardmore has always drawn the interested and the interesting; doffing their hats here are such as St Declan, Irish College co-founder and principal, Micheal O’Foghlu, artist John Lavery, Michael Collins,. playwright Mollie Keane, Collins, the Cockburns Claude, Patricia and sons and broadcaster Fergal Keane.

Vintage film from Irish film historian Kevin Brownlow is seamlessly tied to the narrator’s adroit and perceptive camera-work. We see Ardmore in its flamboyant summer attire, dinning at street-side tables or basking in its green-rich beauty along the cliff tops and aside its commanding tower. Then we witness the doom-grey skirts of tragedy as towering, ferocious seas don the mantle of lost boats and crews from two Nellie Fleming’s, the Fe de Zondes from Brittany and others forever held in memory by this coastal community.

Tony palms information like seashells plucked from Ardmore’s expansive shore. Much of his knowledge is memorised from the works of local historian Siobhan Lincoln.  He intercepts the music of piper David Power and traditional musicians Danu that spans the story to tell us that, “In August 1672, during the height of the Confederate wars, the Lords Broghill and Dungarvan laid siege to Ardmore. The people of the area took refuge in the round tower. With the arrival of the artillery, the fate of the defenders was sealed. A hundred and seventeen were hanged in one day and had their bodies displayed on the hill overlooking the village as a deterrent to further resistance.”

In 1875 Tony proceeds, the round tower was damaged in a thunderstorm as our eyes alight on a stark still photograph of the subsequent repair work in progress. Other such photos intersperse the footage, many drawn from the legacy left by the famous Horgan brothers of Youghal, cinematic pioneers extraordinaire.

We are taken to Dysart, St. Declan’s Well and to his grave, from which people departing the area took soil as a curative, to the cliff tops, to an outdoor, night time adoration service, to the resting places of the unfortunate Polis and Estonian sailors from the SS Ary, who perished off the south coast in 1943, to a local bar and ballad session, to farmland and, poignantly, onto a boat that traverses a river where “a government indifferent to a traditional way of living” effectively outlawed salmon fishing in 2006.

Tony first fashioned the notion of producing this documentary on a trip to Malta several decades ago. It would rekindle in his heart on subsequent foreign forays. “I always wanted to be able to hand it to anyone who they asked about where I come from,” he smiles, “so I could have my pint in peace!” Ardmore can be proud of his answer.

Ardmore Now and Then is available from Youghal Card Shop, Ardmore Pottery, Quinn’s Ardmore and from Tony Gallagher (087-9889076). Price: €20.
Click on image to see the launch of ‘Ardmore Now and Then’

Picture taken outside The Walter Raleigh Hotel, Youghal of newly weds Caroline Crowley (nee Davis) and Paul Crowley who got married recently. Paul is a big fan of ‘Only fools and horses’ so Caroline decided to suprise her new husband with a wedding gift and hire the  yellow van, the small three wheeled Reliant Robin

made famous by the Trotter brothers in the comedy series ‘Only fools and horses’ Picture includes The Davis and Crowley families and Sharon Browne, asst. manager Walter Raleigh Hotel, Youghal wishing the happy couple well. Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonloine.com

Youghal Medieval Festival Re-Scheduled for Sunday 30th August 2009