East Cork tourist town landmark set for unveiling of lighthouse platform after five year wait

Encased in scaffolding, the 15-metre high lighthouse in Youghal is itself undergoing scrubbing and painting as the town’s latest visitor inducement comes to fruition.

A five-year wait is set to conclude in Youghal next month when a €325,000 viewing platform is unveiled at the town’s lighthouse site.

Encased in scaffolding, the 15-metre high lighthouse is itself undergoing scrubbing and painting as the town’s latest visitor inducement comes to fruition.

Workers have now removed a disused plant storage room adjacent to the lighthouse and poured base concrete onto the void in advance of constructing the viewing facility.

The platform will be installed on the lighthouse’s eastern facade, overlooking a rocky cove, accessible by steps, some 10 metres below.

The spectacular view at the harbour mouth contrasts the blue Atlantic with the lush green hills of Monatrea, while fishing boats and leisure craft traverse the briny-filled divide.

Alternatively, on clear nights, the reflection of a full moon on the tidal surface weaves magic on the mind to create enchanting memories, locals say.

The platform, which will be reached by a new entrance from Lighthouse Road, will be wheelchair accessible and feature a ‘corrugated’ glass structure.

Its ‘straight line’ shape is intended as a ‘new intervention’ to the lighthouse’s circular form and also in respect of it.

A hand-railed balustrade on the platform’s northern side will ensure privacy for the neighbouring former lighthouse keeper’s cottage, which dates from the 1930s and is now restored and privately owned.

The site housed a Franciscan nunnery in the 13th century, whereby nuns managed a ‘light tower’, built by Maurice Fitzgerald in 1190.

That service ceased in 1542, and darkness reigned until the present lighthouse was built in 1848, when Youghal was a busy trading port.

Cork County Council assumed ownership of the listed building in 2014, and the granite structure continues to flash its warning today.

The installation forms part of a scheme to connect beachside attractions like the boardwalk and greenway with the town centre, through visitor attractions, traffic management and cycle lanes.

The plans also include reconstructing two nearby derelict viewing balconies, one of which relates to the legendary lovelorn Moll Goggin.

Legend records Moll Goggin was a broken-hearted young woman, who would stand forlorn at the spot leading to the town's front strand, in an ultimately doomed wait for the return of her sailor lover.

Mayor of Co Cork Mary Linehan-Foley said earlier this year that coastal erosion has gotten so bad that Moll Goggin’s Corner could fall into the sea.

Hailing the lighthouse’s relevance, Youghal Chamber president Kay Curtin said: "As you round Moll Goggin’s Corner, it’s the first thing you see. The platform will definitely benefit the town."

Co-chair of Youghal Business Alliance, Anne Treacy, said: “It’s such an iconic feature. We even have an old poster of it on the window of our pub, The Nook. The viewing balcony form will be a real asset to Youghal."