A five-year wait is set to conclude in Youghal next month when a \u20ac325,000 viewing platform is unveiled at the town\u2019s lighthouse site.<\/p>\n
Encased in scaffolding, the 15-metre high lighthouse is itself undergoing scrubbing and painting as the town\u2019s latest visitor inducement comes to fruition.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The platform will be installed on the lighthouse\u2019s eastern facade, overlooking a rocky cove, accessible by steps, some 10 metres below.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The platform, which will be reached by a new entrance from Lighthouse Road, will be wheelchair accessible and feature a \u2018corrugated\u2019 glass structure.<\/p>\n
Its \u2018straight line\u2019 shape is intended as a \u2018new intervention\u2019 to the lighthouse\u2019s circular form and also in respect of it.<\/p>\n
A hand-railed balustrade on the platform\u2019s northern side will ensure privacy for the neighbouring former lighthouse keeper\u2019s cottage, which dates from the 1930s and is now restored and privately owned.<\/p>\n
The site housed a Franciscan nunnery in the 13th century, whereby nuns managed a \u2018light tower\u2019, built by Maurice Fitzgerald in 1190.<\/p>\n
That service ceased in 1542, and darkness reigned until the present lighthouse was built in 1848, when Youghal was a busy trading port.<\/p>\n
Cork County Council assumed ownership of the listed building in 2014, and the granite structure continues to flash its warning today.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The plans also include reconstructing two nearby derelict viewing balconies, one of which relates to the legendary lovelorn Moll Goggin.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Mayor of Co Cork Mary Linehan-Foley said earlier this year that coastal erosion has gotten so bad that Moll Goggin\u2019s Corner could fall into the sea.<\/p>\n
Hailing the lighthouse\u2019s relevance, Youghal Chamber president Kay Curtin said: “As you round Moll Goggin\u2019s Corner, it\u2019s the first thing you see. The platform will definitely benefit the town.”<\/p>\n
Co-chair of Youghal Business Alliance, Anne Treacy, said: \u201cIt\u2019s 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.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A five-year wait is set to conclude in Youghal next month when a \u20ac325,000 viewing platform is unveiled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[79,63,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-465735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cork-news","tag-cork-county-council","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}