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4 days ago

The ‘Divings’ - near the Youghal Lighthouse.

For generations the ‘Divings’ at Youghal Lighthouse has been attracting good swimmers. It is found by going down a steep walkway beside the lighthouse perimeter wall to the rocks below where you find a good depth of water between them. For an hour before and an hour after high tide, it is a natural swimming pool. The local authority used to erect a diving board there every year for the summer and then it was removed in the autumn until the next year. But in recent years there is no sign of the diving board. Perhaps an insurance issue is again raising its ugly head. That walkway is said to be the oldest path in town – it was used by invaders and pirates over the centuries. It predates the Lighthouse (1852) by hundreds of years. The ‘Divings’ was well known to be a ‘Men Only’ bathing place and older people remember when a notice stating that fact was fixed to the wall at the start of the pathway. It all went back to the days when mixed bathing was frowned upon. However, only a hundred yards further on, in the direction of the ‘Head of the Rock’ (Moll Goggin’s Corner), females in bikinis could be seen lying in the sun. They were admired by the passing throng meandering high up on the main road footpath as they made their way to the Front Strand beach.

Men walked out from town daily to swim at the ‘Divings’. Some even went into the water every day of the whole year, in winter and summer. A great friendship was built up between the attendees and it became like an unofficial club. The majority have passed on to a higher place where the waves are less turbulent and the sun always shines.

Mikie Joyce of South Cross Road was a very strong man and a great swimmer. It is said that on a few occasions he left the ‘Divings’ and swam out around the two buoys in Youghal Bay and back, a distance of about six miles. It seemed like he could swim forever provided that the sea was not too rough. Mikie was a lifeguard at the strand in 1949 and he was entrusted with patrolling from the gap at the railway station to Redbarn (over a mile) for a wage of £1 -10s. per week. That was before he started to do somersaults into the water from the diving board at the ‘Divings’. Vincie Carroll was another to be seen walking towards the lighthouse with his towel under his arm. Then you had Derry O’Sullivan, owner of the Anchor Bar, who also walked the mile to the lighthouse ‘Divings’ for his swim. Bill Field, of the famous printing family, was another regular. Kevin Stack and his brother-in-law Joe O’Dea were part of the ‘club’ too.

Eamon O’Halloran who was a retired Garda back from Dublin loved to meet with the gang and enjoy the cold water. He was a good entertainer and could imitate Miceal O’Muircheartaigh and Miceal O’Hehir who were famous commentators very well, creating tremendous laughter. Then every 1st day of June, Eamon would appear to declare the ‘Divings’ open for another season. The pals would have acquired a red ribbon with a scissors and while two people held it – Eamon cut the ribbon.

Again at the end of October, as the clocks were about to go back the hour for winter, he would declare the place closed and that it would now be illegal to swim there. All good fun! A brother of Eamon and sister-in-law were lost when the Viscount aeroplane ‘St. Phelim’ went down off Tuskar Rock in 1968.

Now we come to a West-Waterford connection; a teacher in Dungarvan for years, Liam Burke, was another to enjoy the water at the ‘Divings’. Liam is now retired from Ard Scoil na nDeise. He is also retired from the Youghal Town Council and so has plenty of time to do his swimming. He gave tremendous input into this story and supplied all the photos. Buiochas Liam.

Fr. John Slattery was another who loved to dive in. He was a big man and tended to make an almighty splash. When Fr. John would come out of the water to ask onlookers how his dive went, he would be told bluntly “It was a belly-bust”. Joe Hallissey, photographer, was a September swimmer (too busy taking photos during the summer) and he would float on his back while smoking a cigarette and reading a newspaper. There would be much appreciation and clapping for Joe’s tricks from the onlookers and he loved it. The living nearby light-house keeper, Martin Boyle, could go into the water twice a day at every high tide. Other regular swimmers were Pierce Hennessy, Noel Dempsey, Kieran Walsh, Paddy Mulcahy, Tadhg Kelleher, Liam Coveney and Seamus Walsh.

By Mike Hackett. ... See MoreSee Less

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YoughalOnline.com

1 week ago

Memories of Musicals in Youghal - 1970s

The Children of Lir was a folk musical by Brian O'Reilly from the band 'Loudest Whisper' and was staged in Youghal sometime in the 1970s and presented by the then 'Youghal Community Promotions'. It was so popular it sold out more shows than Garth Brooks upcoming concerts in Dublin [Citation needed]

The origin of The Children of Lir came from a debut album by Irish folk rock/progressive folk group Loudest Whisper back in 1974 and later adapted as a folk rock musical which were increasingly popular at the time. Remember the spread of the folk music style of mass in the seventies.?

The Children of Lir is a legend from Irish mythology. It is a tale from the post-Christianisation period that mixes magical elements such as druidic wands and spells with a Christian message of Christian faith bringing freedom from suffering.

The acknowledgements in the Children of Lir brochure says it was the musical that united the strand and the town thanks to American politician and diplomat, Henry Kissinger (Détente). How much of this is true. Some say it's too early to tell.

Incidentally the original 1974 LP release of 'The Children of Lir' has become one of the most sought after records in Ireland, and currently ranks among the top 100 rarest records in the world!

Do you remember the Children of Lir when it was performed in town. Were you in the cast. Where was it staged in town? Please leave a comment below.

Pictured is the original brochure of then musical. ... See MoreSee Less

YoughalOnline.com

2 weeks ago

Poor times in town. By Mike Hackett.
In the laneways of towns long ago – people were great to share what little they had with the neighbours. When they had a few fish to spare – or extra soup – it was given to those in need. Those same neighbours would be given similar generosity when thing were reversed. Asking the butcher for bones for the dog was no problem – even if you didn’t have a dog. You heard the story about the little boy in the butcher’s shop with his mother. When he heard her asking for a bone for the dog – he innocently cheered - “Great! - We’re getting a dog”. Picking blackberries, crab apples and wild mushrooms were all part of seasonal survival. And don’t forget the rabbit stew – well cooked in a pot on a crane over the fire.

Big towns like Dungarvan and Youghal had a gasworks – and this meant that coke (coal from which the gas had been extracted) could be bought for half the price of real coal. It was good for putting at the back of the fire – and pouring a little water on it helped it to last all night as a red base.

Cigarettes were scarce during the Second World War and for years afterwards. Most men of that era – and some women – smoked. It was fashionable – and of course addictive. Well-known brands like Sweet Afton, Wild Woodbines, Gold Flake and Players Please – could not be had from any shop in the war years. The only brand available came from America – the type called Camel. Smokers thought of them as very strong and they were not liked.

An old woman went into Moss Kelly’s shop – at the bottom of Chapel Lane – for five Woodbines. Then on being told by the counter lady that they had only Camels – she was annoyed and replied “You ought to put Moss up on one of them”. After the war ended – the Irish brands slowly returned – but money was in short supply.

Thousands of soldiers had been demobbed and work was hard to get – many went to England to build the cities following all the bombing. One shop at South Main Street in Youghal – owned by Mague-Jeff Russell – started selling the woodbines one-at-a-time. A paper packet of five was four pence and a single fag was a penny – then by so doing – Mague was getting five pence for every four penny packet. She was also providing a smoke to poor people with only a penny to spend.

We think back to the days when families from Cork with a lot of children - would bring them all to the seaside by train on Sundays in the summer. The problem was finding the fare for the train. However – as we said before – the men on the turnstiles/gates were very kind and understanding. The parents would have purchased two adult fares and maybe two more for the children – but they had no hope of paying for their ten kids. That was when the gate men turned a blind-eye as the kids ran past the adults to swarm onto the train. Everybody knew what was happening – and poor people needed to be supported.

The pawn shops were before my time – but many stories survive about how goods and treasures were pawned so that folk could eat. One tale tells of a woman pawning her husband’s suit of clothes every Monday morning – and then redeeming it on the following Saturday (for Sunday Mass) after he got paid. When she was reminded about the shilling that it was costing her every week – she replied “Sure we haven’t even a wardrobe in our tenement abode – how would I keep it dry and respectable for him to wear it on Sunday?”

And the story about the very kind old woman on Cork Hill who would have the kids in her house after school to help them with their homework. But what she was really doing during that time – was giving them some bread and soup to sustain them.

Mile Buiochas do Clann Horgan i gcoir na pictiuri. Many thanks to the Horgan Family for the use of their invaluable photos.

Photos –
Cork Hill in 1896
Mague-Jeff Russell’s shop
Main Street, Youghal in 1910
Quay Lane vegetable sales
Alms Houses ... See MoreSee Less

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2 weeks ago

Interesting advertisements from Youghal businesses in the 'Youghal Show Society' brochure from 1970. It was the eleventh annual Horticultural Show held in the Town Hall, Youghal. ... See MoreSee Less

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