On Saturday June 21st, Youghal Pride by the Sea celebrated LGBTQI+ Pride with a vibrant, colourful parade led by Marshall Orla Egan, founder of the Cork LGBT+ Archive and her partner, filmmaker Carol O’Keefe.
Starting at Market Square, and coming through the iconic Clock Tower, the parade washed the streets with colour as participants sang, whistled and laughed their way through the town, carrying flags and banners along with the 60’ progress flag, carried along the way.
The parade ended at Green Park, where performances from Benzo the Wild Atlantic Way, MockieAh drag queens Candy Warhol, Letycha Le’Synn and Mia Gold and local rock band Eclipse were all warmly greeted.
Benzo led the crowd in a rendition of ‘Over the Rainbow’ a song often associated with Pride, before giving a great set, accompanied in one number by Youghal Pride’s Chair Sinead Lee. The MockieAh queens had people up and dancing, with crowd participation and even a conga line! Eclipse closed the day with rock classics to dance and sing along to.
The Green Park Family Event was well attended, and stalls from Cork Gay Project, Youghal Blue & Green Network, La Leche and Positive Cork were accompanied by Tully Crafts, the Crepe King, Bastardos Pizza and toy stall. Facepainting and hair braiding were also on offer, and a monster raffle brought a happy conclusion to a happy day.
Cork County Council flew the Progress Rainbow flag at Youghal Town Hall for the week, a welcome sight and acknowledgement of the Council’s support for LGBTI+ inclusion.
Youghal Pride would like to thank their funders Cork County Council Amenity Fund, Youghal Credit Union and Cork Gay Project, as well as donors Liam McCarthy, Celebrant and For Mutt’s Sake dog groomers. Thanks to Dublin Pride for the loan of the street flag, and our sincere thanks to our generous sponsors Clockgate Pharmacy; Read & Write; Café 108; Red Store; Youghal Post Office; Niland Hair Studio; Goodness Me Health Store; The Nook; Youghal Pharmacy; Sports & Leisure; Crees; Solo Hair Salon; Tourist Office; Ices & Slices; Murphy’s Pharmacy; Boardwalk Café; McCabes Pharmacy; Brookes Supervalu; Main Street Café; MockieAh Drag Haus and the Old Imperial Hotel. This generosity made the raffle a delight and helped raise funds to cover costs. Our thanks too to Community Guard Sean Killigrew, CRY104fm, photographers Kathleen Blye and Michael Hussey; to Cumann na Daoine for their ongoing support – and to the people of Youghal, for welcoming Pride to the streets, and for their support of their LGBTI+ community.
Here’s a few photos of a great day – full gallery of photos to follow soon!
