The Cork and Youghal Railway Company (C&YR)

Youghal Line Locomotive

This photograph depicts the Youghal Line Locomotive (No. 81) at the Glanmire Road shed in Cork, in 1901. The driver is visible in the cab.

Courtesy of the Locomotive Club of Great Britain
Youghal Line Locomotive
Courtesy of the Locomotive Club of Great Britain

Youghal Line Locomotive

This photograph depicts the Youghal Line Locomotive (No. 81) at the Glanmire Road shed in Cork, in 1901. The driver is visible in the cab.

Courtesy of the Locomotive Club of Great Britain
Enlarge image

In 1854, the fledgling Cork and Youghal Railway Company (C&YR), under their chairman Isaac But, first leader of the Irish party in the British House of Commons, was granted legislative authority to develop a railway connecting Cork City with Youghal town. The hope was that by capitalising on the potential for tourism provided by the town's proximity to the coast, "the drooping prosperity of the town would get a fillip from the works and the increased communication which the construction of a railway would afford."

However, despite the economical potential presented by the development of rail links between Cork City and Youghal, initial works faltered through lack of funding. The C&YR Company, which had struggled financially since its establishment, managed to consolidate sufficient funds to construct a section of the line between Dunkettle and Midleton in November 1859. Howeber, it was not until a London financier named David L. Lewis became chief shareholder of the company that the works could be continued beyond this meagre beginning.


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