Cork City and County Archives preserves a set of ancient royal charters, and copies and translations of same, that were granted by the crown to Youghal Corporation to confer various rights and privileges upon the colonial town government. 6 original royal charters survive from Youghal for the Medieval and Early Modern periods, from Edward 4th in 1462 to James 1st in 1609. For the Medieval period in particular, the survival of original charters, or indeed any original records, is exceedingly rare in Ireland, and these items are amongst the earliest records in our collection.
The original charters are written on parchment (animal skin) in Latin.
The charters and their descriptions may be viewed on our online catalogue:
Queen Elizabeth 1st Charter 1559
Queen Elizabeth 1st Charter 1584
Note: The above form part of a wider series of copies and translations of Youghal charters plus associated material 1375 - 1609
You may also view a high resolution version of the Youghal Charters 1462-1609 (YTR/A/1)
