Dozens of ship wrecks lie in waters off the Mayo coastline

By Tom Gillespie

SHIPWRECKS are dotted all around the coast of Mayo dating back to the Spanish Armada of September 1588.

The Armada, also known as the ‘Invincible Armada’ (La Armada Invencible), was an attempt by the Spanish King Phillip II at a seaborne invasion of the Kingdom of England.

The Armada was the culmination of long running rivalry between England and Spain over strategic trade and religious issues.

The Armada itself refers to the Spanish fleet assembled for the operation, which was intended to escort the Spanish Army from Flanders across the English channel, past the English fleet.

Although Ireland had featured in previous drafts of Spanish invasion plans, it did not form a part of Spanish strategy in 1588. Nevertheless, Ireland was, in the end, central to the defeat of the Armada.

The Spanish fleet was blown north and west around the western Irish coast.

As many as 27 ships and perhaps up to 9,000 Spanish soldiers and sailors lost their lives off the Atlantic coast of Ireland, either through drowning or killed by English troops or Irish chieftains after they were washed ashore.

There are two wrecks in Blacksod Bay - La Rata Encordnada, a 820-ton vessel carrying 419 soldiers - and the Santa Maria Rata, also with a company of soldiers.

The 1,169-ton El Grand Grin, with 329 soldiers and 28 cannon, went down off Clare Island in the same year.

Another Armada vessel, the San Nicholas, with an unknown cargo, sunk off Erris Head while the Falcon Blanco Mediano, carrying soldiers, foundered near Inishbofin island.

The 600-ton Santiago, equipped with 19 cannon, went down near Inver Point off Pollathomas.

In 1588 the San Nicholas Prodaneli with 355 men and 26 guns sunk off the Currane Peninsula.

A pirate ship, the Fancy, and its crew, perished in 1696 off the Mayo coast but the location is unknown.

The Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War saw dozens of vessels torpedoed or bombed off the Mayo coast by the Germans.

In 1940, an auxiliary cruiser, the Dunvegan Castle, was torpedoed by U-Boat 46, 37 miles west of Achill Head.

The following year, a motorship, the 9,1390-ton Upwey Grange, was torpedoed 200 miles west of Achill Head, while the steamer, the 4,337-ton Tunisia, was bombed 350 miles west of Achill Head.

The same year the Manchester Brigade, carrying general government stores, was torpedoed by U-137, 35 miles north-north-west of Eagle Island.

Also in 1941, two steamers, the Saugor, carrying general and aircraft parts, was torpedoed by U-557 some 270 miles off the Mayo coast, and the 4,736-ton Tremoda, carrying general and military stores, was sunk by the same U-Boat 230 miles off Mayo.

The 4,223-ton steamer Homelea was also sunk off the Mayo coast by a torpedo.

During the First World War 22 different vessels were torpedoed or shelled in the waters off the county.

In 1915 the Glasgow steamer, the Cherbury, carrying coal, was bombed by U-30 27 miles off Eagle Island while the Belfast schooner, the George & Mary, carrying lead, scrap iron and bones, was shelled and sunk by U-35 some 15 miles off Eagle Island.

In 1916 the Aranmore, en route from Limerick to Glasgow, was torpedoed by U-43 north-east of Eagle Island.

The following year the armed steamer the Annapolis was torpedoed by U-69 74 miles north-west of Eagle Island and the Arethusa, carrying 1,900 tons of timber, was sunk by U-Boat bombs 15 miles north-west of Eagle Island.

Also in 1917, the Glasgow steel barque, the Heathfield, carrying timber, was bombed near Eagle Island by U-Boat 53.

En route from Buenos Aires to Londonderry, the Aberdeen steel Invermay was bombed by U-40, as was the armed steamer Orubian which was torpedoed by U-82 north-west of Eagle Island.

Two other armed steamers, the Phemius and the Shimosa, were sunk by U-45 and U-46 respectively near Eagle Island.

Also in 1917, the Glasgow iron steamer, the Tuskar, was mined by U-80 three miles west of Eagle Island en route from Glasgow to Limerick while the Verdi, an armed steamer, was torpedoed by U-53 115 miles north-west of Eagle Island.

During 1918 five vessels were torpedoed and sunk. They were the armed steamer the Atlantian, carrying gold and silver; the Highland Harris, with a general cargo and cattle; the armed steamer the Lake Michigan; the Rockpool, carrying wheat, steel sheets and rods; and the armed steamer the Tortuguero, which was torpedoed by U-156 205 miles north-west of Eagle Island.

Thirty-one vessels are listed as having sunk off Achill Island between 1792 and 1979.

Among them were the sail vessel, St. Patrick, which foundered off Achill Head in 1792; the Isabella (1810); the Amelia (1815); the Edward (1815); the Hope (1818); the Hopewell (1833); the Hope (1835) and the Solicito Borghese (1850).

In 1853 the 679-ton Liverpool full rigger, the California Packet, en route from Sligo to New York, carrying emigrants, foundered off the Isle of Mullet.

In 1860 the 314-ton Neptune, carrying sugar, coconut and rum, sunk below the Minaun Cliffs in Achill.

From 1744 to 1928 a total of 22 vessels sunk in Westport Bay, the majority being sail vessels.

In 1744 the Gertrude, en route from Hamburg to Venice, sunk in the bay but the cargo was salvaged. In 1811 the Allen, sailing from the Azores to Liverpool, went down in the bay.

In 1930 the sail vessel the Thomas struck a reef in Westport Bay. In 1928 the 200-ton Charles Stewart Parnell, carrying coal, sunk near Inishgort.