Youghal will be viewed with warm feelings of interest, by most visiters, as the town in which Sir Walter Raleigh occasionally resided. It will be recollected that this bright ornament of the age in which he flourished, and eminent contributor to the comforts of his country, was actively engaged in the Irish wars under Elizabeth. From the transactions of those sanguinary wars, few names have escaped unsullied; and it is acknowledged, by his most zealous advocates, that Raleigh was a ready instrument of the vengeful spirit that was then abroad, and which appeared to have rendered men, of all parties, callons to human suffering, in whatever form it stood presented, if within the sphere of military action. Considerable estates in Ireland constituted his share of the spoil;* which, in the exigencies attendant on an outfit for his foreign adventures, he sold, for a sum comparatively small, to the sagacious and thrifty Richard, first Earl of Cork. The house in which Sir Walter is said to have resided, when at Youghal, is still standing, and in good preservation. It adjoins the church-yard, and is at present in the occupation of Sir Christopher Musgrave. It is a mansion of long and low proportions, not remarkable either for beauty or peculiarity of architecture. Several of the apartments are of rather spacious dimensions, and finished with oaken panels, and large chimney-pieces, well carved. In a garden attached to this residence, it is believed that Raleigh planted the first potatoes grown in Ireland. According to a current tradition, the man intrusted with the care of the garden, in the absence of Sir Walter, supposed that the apple, or seed, was the esculent part of the novel production; and, finding the taste unpleasant, bestowed no further thought on the plantation, until, upon digging the ground for some other crop, the root was found to yield a wholesome and palatable species of

The estates obtained by Sir W. Raleigh formed part of the forfeited property of the Earl of Desmond, and consisted of three seignories and a half, in the counties of Cork and Waterford. Among these estates were the manors of Ballynatra; Strancallie; Lysfinneen; Mogeyley; Sheane; and Lismore. Also the town of Tallow, and the Abbey of Molana. This large property he sold to the Earl of Cork, for the sum of 15007.

food, of more importance to the future condition of Ireland than all the political schemes, wars, and encroaching settlements, of Queen Elizabeth, her counsellors and armies.*

The name of Sir Walter Raleigh occurs as mayor of Youghal, for the year 1588. He sailed from the harbour of Cork, on his last voyage of discovery, August 6th, 1617, and some curious particulars concerning his departure are printed in Smith's History of Cork, on the authority of certain manuscripts, said to have been then existing in the Castle of Lismore.

The Parochial Church of Youghal was formerly the church of a collegiate institution, founded in 1464, by Thomas, Earl of Desmond, for a warden, eight fellows, and the same number of choristers; which establishment was endowed with several benefices, and a considerable landed estate. After passing through many hands, subsequent to the dissolution, the greater part of the property belonging to this college was finally obtained by Sir Richard Boyle, afterwards first Earl of Cork. The wardenship, with the tithes of Youghal parish, and three hundred acres of

* Dr. Campbell (Polit. Survey, vol. i. p. 95) asserts that Sir W. Raleigh first planted the potatoe in Ireland, A. D. 1610. But an examination into the leading occurrences in the life of Raleigh, will show that this assertion must be founded on error. In 1603, he was tried for hightreason; and, on conviction, was confined to the Tower of London for fourteen years. It was in 1586, that he obtained the grant of three seignories and a half of land, as mentioned in our previous note; and he appears to have resided at Youghal in years near that date, as we find him serving the office of Mayor in 1588. It will, therefore, be proper to ascribe the introduction of the potatoe to about the same period; a time at which he was tranquilly living in Ireland, probably engrossed by schemes for the improvement of the vast extent of land he had recently acquired in this country. It is well known that two kinds of potatoe are noticed in Gerard's Herbal (date 1597) one of which he terms the Virginian potatoe, and describes in terms strictly applicable to the potatoe now in common use. It is said that Spanish Potatoes were planted in Ireland, so early as 1565, by the navigator Hawkins, who brought them from Santa Fe. We leave to statistical writers a discussion of the very problematical question, as to whether the use of potatoes, for the sole food of a population, be conducive to the prosperity of a country, or otherwise.

land annexed, is now in the gift of the crown, and has been united to the bishopric of Cloyne since the time of Charles I. Some domestic parts of the collegiate buildings were repaired, and altered as a dwelling house, for the first Earl of Cork, but were alienated by his family, many years back.

The Church is a spacious building, in the pointed style of architecture. The parts used for divine worship, or as places of family burial, are in a good state of preservation; but the antient chancel has been, for many years, in a decayed and roofless condition, and is now separated from the body of the fabric by a wall, which runs across the church, and meets the eastern sides of the transepts. There are two side-aisles, which are divided from the nave by rows of pointed arches, resting on massive piers.

The large eastern window of the ruinous chancel presents the finest architectural feature of the church buildings. The lower part of this window is now built up, but the original graceful proportions are apparent. The lights were divided by stone mullions, and the head is filled with tracery, of pleasing but not elaborate involutions. Placed centrally in the upper compartment, is the figure of a St. Catherine's wheel.

The southern transept was formerly a chantry, dedicated to the Blessed Saviour. In the year 1606, it was purchased, of the mayor and corporation, by the Earl of Cork, and was repaired by that nobleman, as a mortuary chapel, or tomb-house, for himself and family. Here, in his life-time, he erected a gorgeous monument, loaded with effigies and escutcheons, and illustrated by inscriptions, so copious and explicit, that the monument may be truly said to present heraldic and genealogical memoirs of the founder and his family. The taste in which it is executed cannot be commended; but a redundancy of decoration, rendered prominent by gold leaf and gaudy painting, was an error of the times, from which few costly monuments of Lord Cork's æra are entirely exempt. We present, in a note, a brief account of this monument, and are indebted for most of the particulars there afforded, to the full description published by Dr. Smith. The chapel in which it

is placed is kept closely locked, and is not opened, for the inspection of the curious, unless by especial permission.*

The architectural parts of the monument are chiefly composed of marble, and the figures are of alabaster. The principal figure represented is the effigy of Sir Richard Boyle, Knt. Baron Boyle of Youghal, Viscount Dungarvan, and Earl of Cork. He is figured in armour, lying on his left side, his head being supported by his left hand. Below are represented nine of his children, with the dates of their births on the pedestals. Among numerous inscriptions, on different parts of the monument, we copy the following, which relate immediately to the first Earl of Cork and his children:

"Richard, Earl of Cork, married two wives, the first Joan, one of the two daughters and coheiresses of William Apsly, Esq. who died in travail of her first child, which did not survive her. The second wife was Katherine, the only daughter of Sir Geoffry Fenton, Knt. secretary of state in Ireland, by whom he had issue, seven sons and eight daughters." On the right side, issuing from the above inscription, in the manner of a genealogical table, are the following memorials:

“Sir Richard Boyle, Knt. son and heir apparent of Richard, Earl of Cork, married Elizabeth, eldest of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Henry, Lord Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, and hath issue.

"Sir Lewis Boyle, Knt. Lord Boyle, Baron of Bandon-Bridge, and Lord Viscount Boyle of Kinalmeaky, second son of Richard, Earl of Cork, married the lady Elizabeth, daughter of Sir W. Fielding, Knt. Lord Baron of Newenham Padox, Viscount Fielding, and Earl of Denbigh. Slain in the battle of Liscarrol, Sept. 3rd, 1642.

"Sir Roger Boyle, Knt. Lord Boyle, Baron of Broghill, third son of Richard, Earl of Cork, married the lady Margaret, daughter of Theophilus, Lord Howard of Walden, Earl of Suffolk.

"Francis Boyle, Esq. fourth son of Richard, Earl of Cork, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Killigrew, Knt. late vice-chamberlain to Mary, Queen of England.

"Robert Boyle, Esq. fifth son of Richard, Earl of Cork.

"Roger Boyle, eldest son of Richard, Earl of Cork, being a scholar at Deptford, in Kent, died there, the 10th of October, 1615, and lies there intombed.

"Geoffry Boyle, third son of Richard, Earl of Cork, died young, on the 20th of January, 1616, and lieth here intombed."+

To each of the above inscriptions are escutcheons (those of the married sons impaled with the arms of their ladies) with proper differences for

+ Geoffry Boyle was accidentally drowned in the College-well, in this town.

When Lord Cork purchased the south transept as a family burial-place, it was covenanted that he should not molest any antient interments, or monuments, of which there are several in this chapel. One inscription, unconnected with the Boyles, is now partly hidden by a wall, but the lines still legible are worthy of transcription, if only as a remarkable instance of infelicity in arrangement. The epitaph appears to be designed for Sir Edward Villers, lord president of Munster, who died in 1626.

Munster may curse the time that Villers came,

To make us worse, by leaving such a name
Of noble parts, as none can imitate,

But those whose hearts are married to the state."
But, if they press to imitate his fame,

Munster may bless the time that Villers came.

In the flooring of the north transept and the nave, are many monumental stones, of considerable antiquity. Several of these

the several sons. On the left hand are the inscriptions copied beneath, with the several coats of arms of the earl's daughters, impaled with the bearings of their husbands:

"David, Lord Barry, Lord Viscount Buttevant, first Earl of Barrymore, married the lady Alice Boyle, first daughter of Richard, Earl of Cork.

"Robert, Lord Digby, Baron of Geashill, married the lady Sarah Boyle, second daughter of Richard, Earl of Cork, being then the widow of Sir Thomas Moore, Knt. son and heir to Garret, Lord Moore, Lord Viscount of Drogheda.

"Colonel George Goring, son and heir to Sir George Goring, Knt. Lord Baron Goring, of Hurst-Pierpoint, married the lady Lettice Boyle, third daughter of Richard, Earl of Cork.

"George Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, married the lady Joan Boyle, fourth daughter of Richard, Earl of Cork.

"Arthur Jones, Esq. son and heir of Sir Roger Jones, Knt. Lord Viscount Ranelagh, married the lady Katherine Boyle, fifth daughter of Richard, Earl of Cork.

"Sir Arthur Loftus, Knt. son and heir of Sir Adam Loftus, Knt. vicetreasurer, and treasurer at wars, in Ireland, married the lady Dorothy Boyle, sixth daughter of Richard, Earl of Cork.

"Charles Rich, Esq. second son of Robert Lord Rich, of Leeze, Earl of