Property Focus: Buyers rushing to Youghal to escape the cities

Some estate agents report all homes on their books for the coastal town are under offer

The main street looking towards the Clock Tower in Youghal, Co Cork. Picture Dan Linehan

Over the centuries the seaside town of Youghal hasn’t lacked for new residents — some welcome and some unwelcome — including Vikings, medieval monks, plantation landlords such as Sir Walter Raleigh and Victorians who built elegant holiday homes by the strand.

Local auctioneers say that in pandemic times the town has — like many coastal areas — been attracting new residents who have spent lockdown in cities and now want to live and go for walks by the sea. “Youghal’s long sandy beach and its new boardwalk, going all the way to Redbarn, are a huge draw,” observes Fiona Hennessy of Sherry FitzGerald Hennessy.