On Culture Night 21st September 2012, a Youghal based writer Richard Keane won the Flash Fiction Rapid Fire event for his very short story “The Whether Forecast”. The award, worth €250, sponsored by The Farmgate Café, in The English Market was held in the Triskel Arts Centre, Cork as part of the Cork International Short Story Festival organised by the Munster literature Centre.

Click on the HD video below to see Richard Keane read his award winning short story

This was the first time an award was available in this category of Short Story and highlights the growing interest in Flash fiction as a specific style and form of writing. The Judge for this award was Nick Parker who was also reading from his own independently published “the exploding boy” which was the first independently published collection to be reviewed by The Guardian.
Next for the Youghal writer include the final stages of a predominantly poetry collection called ‘What I Hate About Poetry Books’ and he is close to finishing his own short short story collection. He has also joined the organising committee of the Moby Dick Writing Festival which will be held in Youghal on the June bank holiday weekend of 2013 and would like to hear from other writers in the East Cork, West Waterford area with a view to creating an arts based newsletter supporting local artists of all genres. If interested to hear more contact sayrichiek@gmail.com
http://corkshortstory.net/flash_fiction.html

‘Culture Night 2012′ in Youghal, where arts and cultural organisations open their doors until late with a series of free events, talks, musical performances and tours for all the family to enjoy.

St. Raphael’s Art & Drama group performed a pirate musical called ‘The Pirates of the Howling Wolf’ at the Red Store during ‘Culture Night 2012′ held in the town on Friday 21st September 2012. The colourful cast of characters in fancy dress costumes sang and danced in this Youghal Seafaring Adventure, produced by the award winning St. Raphael’s Art & Drama group.

The performance began with the Swashbuckling Pirates waving their swords at the fearful audience shouting “Pirates are coming” and everyone run to the beach where a fight took place. Fortunately a band of ‘Nuns of Run’ shouting “Thar she blows!” were on hand to fight back and defeat the Pirates. One of the pirates shouts “Ahoy” and discovers a hidden box of Brandy where upon everyone drinks and sings to the traditional Irish song “Óró, Sé do Bheatha ‘Bhaile” ( English translation – “Oh-ro You’re welcome home” ) . The performance was outstanding and the happy actors received a well deserved standing ovation.

‘Culture Night 2012′ in Youghal,where arts and cultural organisations open their doors until late with a series of free events, talks, musical performances and tours for all the family to enjoy.

Multicultural evening – Community Development Resource centre
Cumamm Na Daoine hosted ‘Celebrating our differences’ theme evening as part of Culture Night 2012. The evening provided a taste of music, song, dance and food from the new residents in Youghal who come from a variety of cultures, countries and continents.

Community Development Resource centre,
Catherine Street,
Youghal.
Co. Cork
Evelyn McGrath and Dolores Corcoran 024 91900 evelyn@youghalcdp.com

Youghal Culture Night photos – Friday 21st September 2012

Click on image to enlarge

‘Culture Night 2012’ in Youghal,where arts and cultural organisations open their doors until late with a series of free events, talks, musical performances and tours for all the family to enjoy.

2 M.A.D. Birds
‘Making a Mark’
An exhibition exploring stitch and print by Youghal based artists Amanda Hogan and Martina Cassidy.
Amanda Hogan is a Textile Artist working in Contemporary Embroidery, exploring the fabic of domestic life in Narrative Stitch.
Martina Cassidy is a Graphic Artist working in many mediums. Art is about pushing the boundaries and always seeking something new.

CORK COUNTY WAS “A BUZZ” FOR CULTURE NIGHT

Cork County Arts Officers, Ian McDonagh, has said thank you to all of the many thousands of people who got involved in Cork County’s second ever Culture Night which took place last Friday night: “This is a community event, organised by all of the people involved in the Arts, throughout the County.”

All over the county of Cork people flocked to venues, galleries, churches, historic houses, artists’ studios and cultural centres for this unique celebration.

Cllr Barbara Murray, Mayor of the County of Cork, said: “I was delighted to see so much activity at the Cork County Library and County Hall was a buzz with the craft stalls and the various performers. It was wonderful to see this area fully utilized. I also spend some time in my home town, Youghal, and it was absolutely brilliant to see people out and about enjoying all the different events that had been organised, and all for Free.

Culture Night is an initiative coordinated by Temple Bar Cultural Trust and supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in partnership with Cork County Council, proudly supported by C103FM.

 

‘Culture Night 2012’ in Youghal,where arts and cultural organisations open their doors until late with a series of free events, talks, musical performances and tours for all the family to enjoy.

Crochet & Knitting Demonstration – In Stitches, Youghal
In Stitches presented a crochet and knitting demonstration at their new premises on 131 North Main Street as part of Culture Night 2012.

In Stitches
131 North Main Street
Youghal
Co. Cork

 

Tynte’s Castle is a late Fifteenth Century urban town house. It is the only remaining example of several urban town houses that were formerly to be found in Youghal, County Cork. It was open for public viewing on Friday 21st September for Culture Night 2012.

 

Tynte’s Castle is located on the east side of North Main St., Youghal, in the northeast corner of the walled area that formed the medieval town. It is a dominating structure on the streetscape, providing a large presence through its west and north elevations that front onto the thoroughfares. The castle provides a good aspect from its upper level of the surrounding medieval town with the medieval market place. To the immediate south is the medieval parish church of St. Mary’s. To the northwest, and town walls to the west on the high Youghal plateau; town harbour and estuary of the River Blackwater to the east. The 17th century almshouses, constructed by Richard Boyle, are almost directly opposite on the other side of the street. The plot on which the castle is sited is relatively flat, although there is a perceptible fall in the ground level from west to east. This fall is in common with the fall of ground within the medieval town. Analysis of the topographical development of the town would suggest that development first took place on western side of the Main Street, from at least the late 12th century. The western side of the street was better suited for building as it was further up from the shoreline than the east, which was probably open beach. It appears that building on the east side of the street occurred later in the medieval period as the town expanded. This would have seen the reclamation of the beach line on the eastern side of the Main Street with the construction timber and stone riverside revetments, progressively pushing the shoreline into the river. The sites location close to sea level would have made it susceptible to flooding. The castle was never far from the sea, with the line of the east boundary wall of the yard following that of the seaward run of the town wall. Towards the end of the 17th century and especially the 18th century, a rapid expansion eastward into the river saw the creation of large tracts of new land behind the castle site, and it came more into the core of the infrastructure of the town.

Urban Tower Houses
Tower-houses were a feature of the infrastructure of Irish towns and cities of the 15th and 16th centuries. Ben Murtagh (1988) has identified 37 surviving urban tower houses or fortified houses in Ireland, out of a number that was undoubtedly much larger. Excavations in Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim during the 1970′s by Tom Delaney, revealed foundations of three 16th century tower houses. Closer to Youghal, the remains of the 15th century tower house known as Skiddy’s Castle were excavated by Dermot Twohig in Cork City in 1974/5.

Tynte’s Castle is the only surviving example of several urban tower houses that were formally to be found in Youghal. An examination of the illustrated maps of Youghal show that at least six fortified houses are depicted on the stylised Pacata Hibernia map of Youghal of 1589. Whilst the more proportioned Hardiman map of 1602 shows two examples, both of which appear to be sited close to the waterfront and have a quay outwork on the water side of the town wall; one of these may be Tynte’s castle. As well as Tynte’s castle, a further tower house that has been definitely located is the Magazine, which was located on the western side of the North Main Street, close to the site of the Benedictine Priory.

Therefore, Tynte’s Castle was part of the custom of building fortified merchant houses in town settings. In common with the rural tower house, these urban versions were built as a response to an unstable political situation and a demonstration of the prestige and wealth of their owners within the urban setting. It is generally accepted that urban tower-houses were built by merchants and their families, especially in coastal towns such as Youghal where they would have been involved in trade. The towers were not part of the town defences and were located on the main street or at important junctions in the town. These tower houses afforded secure storage for goods, good residential space for the period and an impressive edifice that enhanced the trade of the merchant. These merchant families were a growing urban elite that was coming to the fore in urban politics in 14th and 15th century Ireland. These affluent families became civic office holders in the governing corporations of the towns, positioning themselves to benefit economically and politically from such positions as Mayors and Burgesses. By living in towns, they forged business links and created civic cohesion in a time in which central government was erratic at best. An important part of this identity was the construction of urban tower house. These structures were primarily defensive strongholds for the protection of the merchants family, vassals and goods; and as a secondary function were a display of the wealth of ingenuity of their owner.

The urban tower-houses are generally the same in form as their rural counterparts. However, because of their urban locations they are often restricted in ground room. The width of the burgage plot on which there are built dictates their width; thus the castles generally appear to be long and narrow. Building a tower house turned the disadvantage of these often-narrow plots into an advantage by allowing vertical growth of the building. Another plus was that they became very prominent buildings in the town, especially when sited in locations that faced onto main streets and market places or where orientated towards the church. Tynte’s Castle occupied a dominant position in medieval Youghal, facing onto the site of the medieval market place and having its upper apartments in view of the medieval parish church.

Both Murtagh (1988) and O’Keeffe (1999) have recognized a distinct separation of the commercial and residential functions of urban tower houses. The vaulted lower storeys of the urban tower houses would have acted as storage and retail space whilst the upper stories were residential apartments. Movement is generally difficult from the lower storeys to the upper in these urban tower houses. In Tynte’s castle, current access to the upper apartments is via the mural stairs, through what is now a low entrance passage. It is possible that the commercial and residential sides of the urban tower houses were operated separately; perhaps having the ground floor leased to a merchant while independent accommodation is maintained above. This may have been the case with Tynte’s castle when it was let by Robert Tynte in 1639.

Tynte’s Castle is the only other example of such in County Cork along with Desmond Castle, known as the French Prison in Kinsale.

‘Culture Night 2012’ in Youghal,where arts and cultural organisations open their doors until late with a series of free events, talks, musical performances and tours for all the family to enjoy.
Culture Night 2012 at the Youghal Heritage Centre
Free Admission & Information Service – Youghal Heritage Centre
The Youghal Heritage Centre opened and provided an information service for Culture Night.
Free Admission on the night.
Youghal Heritage Centre
Market Square
Youghal
Co. Cork
024-20170 info@youghalchamber.com

CORK COUNTY WAS “A BUZZ” FOR CULTURE NIGHT

Cork County Arts Officers, Ian McDonagh, has said thank you to all of the many thousands of people who got involved in Cork County’s second ever Culture Night which took place last Friday night: “This is a community event, organised by all of the people involved in the Arts, throughout the County.”

All over the county of Cork people flocked to venues, galleries, churches, historic houses, artists’ studios and cultural centres for this unique celebration.

Cllr Barbara Murray, Mayor of the County of Cork, said: “I was delighted to see so much activity at the Cork County Library and County Hall was a buzz with the craft stalls and the various performers. It was wonderful to see this area fully utilized. I also spend some time in my home town, Youghal, and it was absolutely brilliant to see people out and about enjoying all the different events that had been organised, and all for Free.

Culture Night is an initiative coordinated by Temple Bar Cultural Trust and supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in partnership with Cork County Council, proudly supported by C103FM.

On Culture Night, Fri. 21st Sept. 2012, Gallery 126 hosted a ceramic exhibition by Eileen Singleton and jewellery making demonstration by award winning goldsmith and jewellery designer Felix Faulkner. Felix uses gold, silver, bronze and brass in her jewellery, sometimes incorporating other interesting materials such as wood and stone. She trained in Bulawayo and in Germany. Her designs are influenced by the sea and landscape around her home.

Click on the short video below to see Felix Faulkner demonstrate her skills

Gallery 126 are currently showing the work of Eileen Singleton. On Friday October 5th. 2012, the gallery will host a reception for Eileen from 6 to 9pm. Eileen will be delighted to discuss her ceramic technique and talk about her work. Below is a brief paraphrased statement about her work by Eileen:- ”I explore the qualities of plants in terms of colour, form,texture and pattern…….I am intrigued by patterns in nature and how these organic patterns echo one another……………Clay is amazingly good at recording the textures inherent in each plant allowing me to study the botanical details which are hidden to the casual observer

Gallery 126
North Main Street
Youghal
Co. Cork
Eamon O’ Brien 024-92568 086-3862292
gallery126youghal@gmail.com

On Culture night last Friday 21st September, a Youghal based writer Richard Keane won the Flash Fiction Rapid Fire event for his very short story “The Whether Forecast”. The award, worth €250, sponsored by The Farmgate Café, in The English Market was held in the Triskel Arts Centre, Cork as part of the Cork International Short Story Festival organised by the Munster literature Center.

This was the first time an award was available in this category of Short Story and highlights the growing interest in Flash fiction as a specific style and form of writing. The Judge for this award was Nick Parker who was also reading from his own independently published “the exploding boy” which was the first independently published collection to be reviewed by The Guardian.

Festival director Patrick Cotter highlighted a unique element of the Cork International Short story festival is the focus is on the writing and hearing the authors read their work as they intended it to be heard. The Event is organised by the Munster Literature Center.

Other winners at the festival included Nathan Englander from America for his collection of short stories “What we talk about when we talk about Ann Frank winning the top prize The Frank O’Connor Award. Winner of the Sean O’Faolain Prize for a single story ”White socks and weirdo’s” was Sophie Hampton from the UK.

Next for the Youghal writer include the final stages of a predominantly poetry collection called ‘What I Hate About Poetry Books’ and he is close to finishing his own short short story collection. He has also joined the organising committee of the Moby Dick Writing Festival which will be held in Youghal on the June bank holiday weekend of 2013 and would like to hear from other writers in the East Cork, West Waterford area with a view to creating an arts based newsletter supporting local artists of all genres. If interested to hear more contact sayrichiek@gmail.com

http://corkshortstory.net/flash_fiction.html

Related Video
Thomas McCarthy poetry reading at the Youghal Moby Dick Literary Festival 2012

Related Video
Culture Night in Youghal 2012 featuring Pat Lynch Storyteller

Youghal Culture Night Programme of Events: Friday 21st September 2012

Art Exhibition and Goldsmith Demonstration – Gallery 126
Gallery 126 will host an art exhibition and jewellery making demonstration.
Felix Faulkner, an award winning goldsmith and jewellery designer will demonstrate her
skills at Gallery 126. 6pm – 9pm.
Gallery 126
North Main Street
Youghal
Co. Cork
Eamon O’ Brien 024-92568 086-3862292
gallery126youghal@gmail.com

Jewellery making Workshop – Danelle Boutique
Lauren Burroughs will showcase her costume jewellery and give a jewellery making
demonstration using semi-precious metals, stones and beads. 6pm – 9pm
Danelle Boutique,
72 North Main Street,
Youghal.
Co.Cork Lil Danne – 024 91202
Lauren Burroughs – 086 3917738

Multicultural evening – Community Development Resource centre
Cumamm Na Daoine presents “Celebrating our differences”. This evening will provide taste
of music, song, dance and food from the new residents in Youghal who come from a variety
of cultures, countries and continents. 7 – 10pm
Community Development Resource centre,
Catherine Street,
Youghal.
Co. Cork
Evelyn McGrath and Dolores Corcoran 024 91900 evelyn@youghalcdp.com

Lace Making Exhibition – Condon’s Florist
Condon’s Florist is pleased to host Youghal’s Lace & Historical Photographic Exhibition. The
tools and skills involved in Lace making will be on show as well as a beautiful antique
Youghal Needlepoint Wedding Dress! 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Condon’s Florist
98 North Main Street
Youghal
Co. Cork
Kay Curtin 024-92634 086-887449 kaycurtin44@gmail.com

Night of traditional music, song, dance and story telling – Brú na sí

Comhaltas Craobh Eochaill will host an evening of entertainment at Brú na sí, Youghal.
Magniers Hill,
Youghal,
Co. Cork.
Micheál de Buitléir
087 7934504

Night of traditional music, song, dance and story telling – Red Store
Comhaltas Craobh Eochaill will host an evening of entertainment at Red Store, Youghal.
150 North Main Street,
Youghal,
Co. Cork
Micheál de Buitléir 087 7934504

Choral Music – Collegiate Church Youghal
Youghal Choral Society in association with the Youghal Socio Economic
Development Group presents an evening of choral music at The Collegiate Church of
Saint Mary the Virgin, Youghal. The choir will perform pieces spanning a variety of genres
along with music from popular musicals such as Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera.
7.30pm – 8.30pm
Clodagh Mahon or Sinéad Goggin 024 81823/083 3606507
themallartscentre@gmail.com
Free Tours & Storytelling Session – Fox’s Lane Folk Museum
Fox’s Lane Folk Museum are pleased to announce that Pat Lynch will conduct free tours of
the collection of household goods, dating from 1850 to 1950 ,followed by a story telling
session in the fully restored country kitchen of the period.
Story-telling times are as follows: – 7.30, 8.30 & 9.30pm
Free tours from 7pm – 10pm
Fox’s Lane Folk Museum
Fox’s Lane
Youghal
Co. Cork Pat Lynch 024-91145
Crochet & Knitting Demonstration – In Stitches, Youghal
In Stitches will present a crochet and knitting demonstration at their new premises on 131
North Main Street.
In Stitches
131 North Main Street
Youghal
Co. Cork Oona Colin 086-8747751

Free Admission & Information Service – Youghal Heritage Centre
The Youghal Heritage Centre will be open and provide an information service for Culture
Night. Learn about Youghal’s history and heritage and get up to date information on the
evenings events. 7pm – 10pm
Free Admission on the night.
Youghal Heritage Centre
Market Square
Youghal
Co. Cork
024-20170 info@youghalchamber.com

Open House – Tynte’s Castle, Youghal
Tynte’s Castle is a late Fifteenth Century urban town house. It is the only remaining example
of several urban town houses that were formerly to be found in Youghal, County Cork. It is
open for viewing from 7pm – 10pm

Jim McCarthy 087 7719864 tyntes.castle@valley.net