Weekends on the move: Youghal – beach, nature and history
Let’s continue car free Irish trips. This time I’m taking you to the seaside Irish town of Youghal, located in the east of County Cork, right on the border with Waterford.
I was looking through my Facebook and found that I had last been to Youghal in September 2013. Since then I have only occasionally taken the bus to Cork. This also gave me the idea to include it in my Irish trips. When I was deciding where to go a month ago, because the weather was really nice, an acquaintance of mine finally talked me into going to Youghal.
Youghal is located right on the coast and therefore, in addition to its rich history, it also offers a huge beach. It was almost completely full of locals, but I’ll get to that later. Bus Eireann/Expressway bus number 40 runs from Waterford to Youghal, which goes all the way to Cork. I left at 10 in the morning to be there around noon and was originally supposed to return at 6:30 in the evening, but I had already seen, photographed and walked around, so I went home an hour early.
As I already mentioned, Youghal has a lot to see – I found several places on the map that I definitely wanted to visit. The question remains whether they were worth it.
I got off in the town (the next stop is also above the beach) and headed back, past the town. They have a path around the water and from it you can see a very nice bridge that you can’t see otherwise, because you have to drive over it. The path was nice, but it was high tide and it smelled like fish (even to me). But they had a few benches there and the locals definitely appreciate this path. On the way back, I walked past an interesting building at the beginning of Youghal. It looks like a castle (which the locals confirmed to me later that day) and upon arrival I noticed that llamas were grazing in front of it. However, the land and the castle are private and an hour later the llamas were unfortunately no longer there.
But now I have tourist spots for you. Right at the beginning of Youghal, near Jysk, you will find the so-called Millennium Garden of Time. The garden is based on the Chi-Rho page from the Book of Kells (one of the biggest attractions in Dublin within Trinity College) and you will find 4 ponds there. According to the official description there are supposed to be several things there and mainly fountains, because they are supposed to show the time. So the fountains were turned off when I was there, which was probably because of the heat. But one pond had these little red carps in it yay
After the carps, it was time for the town. It consists of two roads, one of which is the main one and on it you will also find the local castle Tynte and probably one of the biggest tourist attractions, Youghal Clock Gate Tower. The tower is not just for looking at, you can also climb it, which I only found out while writing this article. Classic. More info can be found here.
So I first went to Raheen Road, where the local city walls are located – history simply. There is a view from there, but most importantly you can walk through the walls to the gardens of St. Mary’s Collegiate Church. So in addition to the great views, be prepared for a lot of old graves, but at least it has something to offer. I would not recommend this place for relaxation at all, however, if you want a green area with a view, right next to the church there are The College Garden, where you can relax for free.
I enjoyed it and headed down Church Street (I mention it on purpose, it has something special about it!) to the main street. I walked straight to the water for now. Don’t worry, we’ll come back to the main street later. You can find the waterfront, boats and views by the water. Whether on the other side to County Waterford or back to Youghal towards the Clock Gate Tower, the tourist center or the Moby Dick pub. It was low tide when I visited, but it was still nice. And I liked that everything was open to the public and I could run around the harbor and take pictures as I wanted. I looked at the souvenirs in the tourist center and as I was walking around and taking pictures, the tour guide caught me and spent about 15 minutes telling me what I definitely had to see in Youghal (he didn’t add anything new to my list, but he was a very nice older Irishman).
Now it was time for the Clock Gate Tower and the main street. I just took some photos of the road, the houses and the Clock Gate Tower, but I noticed that there are a lot of interesting shops there. As I was walking up and down the main street, I remembered that I wanted to take a picture of a random red house (opposite Supervalu). It was all in scaffolding… but I preferred this house to be in scaffolding than the Clock Gate Tower.
Then it was time to head to the beach. The walk is not that long and maybe there is a local bus service there, but of course I walked. And walking was worth it – I noticed that next to the town hall they have a small beach, on which half of Youghal stretched out. I also admired the local houses and how people live and reached Green Park, where you can sit on one of the many benches, either in the park itself or on the promenade around it. There is a great view from here, especially of the local lighthouse that you pass on the way to the beach. The lighthouse dates back to the 18th century and is not open to the public – yet. It is still in operation today. The great thing is that if you are walking, there is a lookout point not far from it, and otherwise the walkway goes right around it. The lighthouse itself is not very big, but it is definitely worth it.
From there it’s just a short walk to the beach. The beach itself is probably one of the longest I’ve seen so far. It stretches along the entire length of the coast to other villages. It also has the longest wooden promenade in Ireland. The difference between the beach in Youghal and, for example, in Tramore is that you won’t find any cafes or shops here. Almost all the buildings around the beach are private houses. However, there are a few benches, toilets, twice (I can’t say in what condition, I sweated everything out), in good weather there is also an ice cream van selling a soft ice cream (which I had to have and it was divine!) and in another part of the beach there is currently a small shop/cafe. When it’s hot, expect the other half of Youghal to be on this beach. But thanks to its length, it’s actually not a problem at all.
As I was walking along the promenade, I noticed something interesting: they are installing a cable from Youghal to France that will exchange electricity between the two countries. It will power up to half a million homes. I have never read about anything like this before, so I found it interesting. For more information in English only, click here.
To conclude this article. I went day tripping in the heat again, which is not my style. But it was great. I saw and did everything I wanted to. Youghal is a small town, but it has a lot to offer and I am definitely adding it to my potential trip itinerary when my friends fly over.
What to see in Youghal in a nutshell
– Clock Gate Tower
– Main Street
– Quayside around the town centre
– The College Garden and gardens next to St. Mary’s Collegiate Church
– Lighthouse
– Beach
What I liked about Youghal
They have benches everywhere. I love benches. They have Supervalu and Aldi in the centre, but also lots of restaurants, take aways and pubs. And as I complained in Thomastown that they didn’t have a path to Jerpoint Abbey, in Youghal they have pavements everywhere. It’s safe there.
What I didn’t like about Youghal
That Aldi sold out of the tortilla I wanted to try… No, seriously. The only thing I can think of is the toilets. There are quite a few around the centre, but they are tourist booths and from what I looked at on Google, they don’t have very good reviews. The toilets in the classic building are only by the beach. There is no shopping centre in Youghal that would have toilets. So just something to think about.
