Tragic fate of Spanish Armada ship La Girona and discovery of sunken treasure off the Irish coast

The fate of the Spanish Armada of 1588 is well known. A fleet of 130 ships with approximately 30,000 men on board had sailed from Corunna in Galicia in late May 1588, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia. Their aim was to escort an army from the Spanish Netherlands to invade England. The invasion was defeated in a naval battle and the remaining ships of the Armada were forced to retreat north to attempt to round the northern coast of Scotland and so make it back to Spain.

It was in mid-September the Armada rounded the north of Scotland and were hit by atrocious storms. Many of the ships foundered on the rocky coasts of Scotland and the north and west of Ireland. One of these ships was the La Girona, which eventually came to grief off Lacada Point in County Antrim (Irish: Contae Aontroma). County Antrim is named after the town of Antrim, from Irish: Aontroim, meaning "lone ridge".  La Girona had been aiming to reach and gain sanctuary in a Scottish port. Only nine of the 1,300 on board survived. Some 260 bodies were washed ashore.

The Girona was wrecked on the night of 26 October 1588 within a few miles of Dunluce Castle (Irish: Dún Libhse), home to Irish Chief Sorley Boy MacDonnell. It is said that he ensured the recovered bodies received a Catholic burial and arranged for the survivors to travel on to Scotland. According to local legend an ancient graveyard near the castle was used for the burial. The graveyard surrounds the ruins of St Cuthbert's, a church dating back to the 13th century. 

The wreck of the Girona lay undisturbed for hundreds of years. When it was discovered by divers in the 1960's they also found a large treasure trove.Hundreds of gold and silver coins were recovered, along with priceless jewellery with precious stones. Much of the treasure from La Girona is now kept in the Ulster Museum in Belfast (Irish: Béal Feirste). As for those ships of the Spanish Armada which eventually avoided shipwreck and made it back to Spain. Half were lost and three-quarters of its men, over 20,000 Spanish sailors and soldiers had perished.

Image above: Part of treasure recovered from ship Girona

Images below: Painting depicting Spanish Armada under full sail in 1588 and Dunluce Castle