The Youghal College Gardens occupy an area of almost 5 acres and are protected as a national monument. The gardens can be clearly identified on the earliest maps of Youghal. The Pacata Hibernia Map of Youghal (c. 1590) shows the lower garden as a series of geometric beds surrounded by paths.
In 1616 over one hundred apple trees, prunes and quinces were imported from Bristol to be used in the College’s garden, the beginning of the walled orchard found in the gardens today. As part of the effort of Sir Richard Boyle to strengthen the defenses of Youghal during the 1641 Irish Rebellion, five towers were built around the grounds and two platforms of earth were constructed in the upper part of the gardens for cannons to be mounted on. They are shown in Burke’s painting of Youghal, the earliest known landscape by an Irish artist.