Collegiate Church of St Mary Youghal

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The Collegiate Church of St.Mary, Youghal, County Cork, Ireland is a Church of Ireland Church in East County Cork, in the Diocese of Cloyne, which is part of the Church of Ireland United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross.

The Collegiate Church is a building of very remote antiquity and of unparalleled historical importance for Ireland. It occupies a site devoted to religious worship since early Christian times and is now one of Ireland's National Monuments. The Collegiate Church is under the care of the government, by way of an unusual lease between the Church of Ireland Representitive Church Body, and the Youghal Urban District Council.

Below, a view of the roofs of the Collegiate Church, taken from the town walls Image:exterior6.jpg

[edit] Historical Overview

The church is likely to have been a monastic settlement of Saint Declan of Ardmore (c450). It was rebuilt in Irish Romanesque style (c750) and the Great Nave was erected in the year 1220 - indeed the roof timbers have been carbon dated by Queen's University Belfast to the year 1170. There was an early 13th century re-building and this was under the direction and hand of the Masters of four local guilds of operative masons, whose marks are still to be found on the pillars of the gothic arches.

The earliest entry in the vestry book of Youghal is a statement of parish accounts for the year 1201. Pope Nicholas IV, in the taxations of 1291, described Youghal as being the richest benefice in Cloyne. The list of clergy can be traced back to this date.

In 1464 St. Mary's was made a Collegiate Church, with the foundation of 'Our Lady's College of Yoghill' by Thomas, 8th Earl of Desmond. It was served by a Warden and Clerks consisting of eight Fellowes and eight choristers.

During the wars of the late 16th Century the church was occupied by the insurgent forces of Gerald, Earl of Desmond, who, among other acts of desecration, unroofed the beautiful High Chancel.

Sir. Walter Raleigh was Mayor of Youghal in 1588 and lived in the Warden's Residence (now known as Myrtle Grove). In 1649, during the Commonwealth, Oliver Cromwell conducted his campaign from Youghal, and delivered a funeral oration from the top of a chest which is still preserved in the church.

George Berkely, Bishop of Cloyne and great philosopher, took up residency as Warden of the College in 1734 and conducted services in the church. John Wesley, also visited Youghal in 1765 and attended Divine Service in St. Marys.

Large-scale works of restoration, including the re-edification of the Chancel, were carried out between 1851 and 1854. A restoration of a remedial nature was carried out between 1970 and 1973. In the late 1980s the Lady Chapel was restored and, in recent years St. Mary's Collegiate Church was given the status of a National Monument of Ireland.