The Spanish Armada & Streedagh

Streedagh beach is my favourite beach in Sligo, it is a ten minute drive from my family home and where I grew up in Drumcliffe and it has one of the most beautiful aspects in Ireland- with a long and curving sandy strand which reaches out as far as the eye can see to a windblown fairy-tale castle- Classiebawn. Wild Atlantic waves rush into shore come winter and come summer and the spectacular silhouette of Benbulben sits on the horizon like the prow of an enormous ship, ready to set sail.

Last weekend was a remembrance day for my family. To mark the ten year anniversary of my brother Mark. To remember him we took a walk around Streedagh beach- one of his favourite places with our family and our friends The Money’s. Streedagh is a spot so familiar to all of us from our childhood, from windy winter walks, icy swims, surfing and body-boarding, picnics and building sandcastles. We knew the history surrounding Streedagh beach but were curious to delve deeper into the unique landscape. A click onto Google later and Auriel from Seatrails appeared with a new take on our hometurf. (How amazing to have a name like Auriel when you work with the sea eh?)

Seatrails is a new venture for maritime archaeologist Auriel Robinson originally from County Meath – her visits to Sligo to surf turned into a love affair with Sligo itself. It is her discovery of Sligo’s beautiful places that led her to begin her business, as a way of sharing her knowledge, the wild landscape, sea-vistas and Sligo’s hidden maritime and archaeological secrets. Here’s our tour of Streedagh and the Spanish Armada shipwrecks with Auriel in pictures…

The Seatrail begins at the Spanish Armada memorial at Streedagh beach. The map below shows the many ships that were ship-wrecked along the west coast of Ireland. Streedagh is the only beach in Ireland to have three ship wrecks. In the late 1980s some research was done to the wreck sites but as yet they have still not been excavated. So if you have dreams of shipwrecks and galleons full of treasure chests and Spanish gold coins (as I do) buried under the sand, you may be right!

Looking for fossils… as the Seatrail continued from the memorial we began a circular tour round the back of Streedagh beach to see some amazing samples of fossils which are dated as approx 300 million years old! One year old Oran takes a look at some fossils below- how’s that for an age-gap?

Inishmurray Island- Sligonians will know the legends and stories around Inishmurray Island a place which was the site of an ancient monastic site. See the view of the flat tree-less island from Streedagh below. (Pictured top right)

The Ships… Auriel told us the tales of how the Spanish Armada became to be wrecked on Streedagh and the picture (see below) of what the ships looked like which helped to visually realise the size and scale of the ships.

The Waves…the rocky shore at the back beach of Streedagh is a perfect place for wave watching. It was also a site of Kelp harvesting the past. My brother Neil captures the moment.

The Surfers… beneath the rolling waves behind these surfers is the site on Streedagh beach of a Spanish Armada shipwreck.

A blazing sunset to finish… Auriel finished her Spanish Armada tour with a reading from a Captain Cueller’s letter who was Captain of one of the ships that were shipwrecked at Streedagh. He wrote an account of his misfortunes when he was washed ashore onto Streedagh. He survived to tell the tale and remarkably returned to Spain. Read his letter and account here

I would highly recommend Seatrails with Auriel. She has a range of amazing routes to explore in Sligo. These are off the beaten track tours so expect beautiful scenery, archaeological sites, breathtaking landscapes, sea-walks and the hidden history of an undiscovered part of Ireland. Find all about Auriel and Seatrails here.