Youghal

Youghal Eochaill
Town
Youghal from the harbour
Youghal Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 51°57′06″N 7°50′44″W / 51.951671°N 7.845612°W / 51.951671; -7.845612Coordinates: 51°57′06″N 7°50′44″W / 51.951671°N 7.845612°W / 51.951671; -7.845612
Country	Ireland
Province	Munster
County	County Cork
Local electoral area	Midleton
Dáil Éireann Constituency	Cork East
EU Parliament	South
Elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population (2016)
• Urban	7,101
• Rural	392
Irish Grid Reference	X102781
Website	www.youghal.ie

Youghal (/ˈjɔːl/ YAWL; Irish: Eochaill, meaning "yew wood") is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Sitting on the estuary of the River Blackwater, in the past it was militarily and economically important. Being built on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a distinctive long and narrow layout. At the 2011 census the population was 7,794, but the population of its catchment area is about 10,000.

Since 2000 the town has experienced a strong decline in its former extensive industrial base, but there are plans for revitalisation taking advantage of the town's unique assets. As a historic walled seaport town on the coastline of east Cork, it has many historic buildings and monuments within its ancient town walls, and has been designated as an Irish Heritage Port by the Irish Tourist Board. It remains a popular tourist destination.

The name Youghal comes from the Irish Eochaill meaning "yew woods", which were once plentiful in the area. Older anglicisations of this name include Youghall, Yoghel and Yochil.

An alternative history for the name is that it is the anglicized spelling for the name of Eochu Liathain, the ancestor of the Ui Liathain family who ruled this area from around 600 until the Norman invasion of the 1170s. The area of Youghal (Eochu) was part of the Ui Liathain domain and fell under control of the Ui Meic Caille.

The Anglo-Norman administration identified Youghal to Inchquin as the cantred Ui Glaissin (Glashan, Gleason, Gleeson) a family of the Ui Meic Caille and the area adjoining it as the Barony Imokilly (Ui Meic Caille).

Youghal is also the name of a townland in north County Tipperary, and may share the same derivation, as it is found in the Aradh Tire of this same ancient Ui Liathain territory.