Whitegate () is a small village in

East Cork East Cork lies in south-west Ireland, in Ireland's largest county, County Cork. The term "East Cork" is used in tourism, sporting and other contexts, and is the name given to one of eight municipal districts of Cork County Council. East Cork con ...

on the eastern shore of

Cork Harbour Cork Harbour () is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational area" (after Port Ja ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It lies within the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

s of Ballincarroonig and Corkbeg. Whitegate is within the Cork East Dáil constituency. The ruins of a 14th-century or 15th-century church lie in the grounds of Corkbeg churchyard close to Whitegate village. The current

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

parish church was built within the same churchyard in 1881. Once a fishing port and known for lace-making, during the 20th-century Whitegate became the location for Ireland's only

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...

. This facility, Whitegate refinery, was built on Corkbeg Island on one side of Whitegate Bay and has been owned by

Irving Oil Irving Oil Ltd. is a Canadian gasoline, oil, and natural gas producing and exporting company. Considered part of the Irving Group of Companies, it was founded by entrepreneur Kenneth "K.C." Irving and is privately owned by his son, Arthur, and h ...

since 2016.

Aghada Aghada () is a village in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is situated on the eastern side of Cork Harbour, around 12 km by road south of Midleton. Aghada is also the parish name for the area. The civil parishes in Ireland, civil ...

Power Generating plant lies on the other side of the bay. The writer William Wall grew up here, though his home, then vacant, was destroyed in a fire in 2008 in a suspected arson attack.

Trabolgan Holiday Village Trabolgan (, meaning 'strand of Bolgan') is a self catering holiday village located in the civil parish of Trabolgan, County Cork in the Republic of Ireland and is situated on a site which was a former country estate. The holiday camp was re ...

is located nearby.

Historic estates

The

Hiberno-Norman From the 12th century onwards, a group of Normans invaded and settled in Gaelic Ireland. These settlers later became known as Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans. They originated mainly among Cambro-Norman families in Wales and Anglo-Normans from ...

FitzGerald The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the ...

family (a sub-branch of the Desmond Geraldines that owned Corkbeg and Lisquinlan), were landowners in the area. Following a marriage between the FitzGerald and Uniacke families, ownership of lands at Corkbeg and Whitegate transferred to Col Robert Uniacke. After marrying Helena FitzGerald, Robert Uniacke assumed the name and arms of the FitzGeralds. Ultimately Uniacke Fitzgerald's nephew, another Col

Robert Uniacke Fitzgerald Colonel Robert Uniacke-FitzGerald (17 March 1751 – 20 December 1814) was an Irish politician. He was the eldest son of Robert Uniacke (afterwards Fitzgerald) of Corkbeg and descended from the Munster Kingdom of Desmond, Desmond FitzGerald Kni ...

, built a

great house A great house is a large house or mansion with luxurious appointments and great retinues of indoor and outdoor staff. The term is used mainly historically, especially of properties at the turn of the 20th century, i.e., the late Victorian or ...

on the estate lands. The Corkbeg and Lisquinlan estates were later willed to Sir Robert Uniacke-Penrose-FitzGerald 1st Bt of Corkbeg and Lisquinlan who died 1919 without issue. Whitegate House, dating from c.1780, still stands at Whitegate.

References

{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Cork

Historic estates

See also

References