In my last Tudor post, I looked at Elizabeth I’s famous visit to Tilbury in August 1588, when she addressed the soldiers who had gathered to defend England against a possible Spanish invasion.
By then, the Spanish Armada had already been driven from the English Channel. England had escaped the immediate threat of invasion, but for the Spanish sailors trying to return home, their troubles were far from over.
The Armada had failed to join forces with the Duke of Parma’s army in the Netherlands. With English ships pursuing them and the winds making a return through the Channel difficult, the Spanish commanders decided to take their remaining fleet northwards.
Their plan was to sail around the north of Scotland, pass to the west of Ireland and eventually return to Spain. They hoped to keep well clear of the dangerous coastline, but following that route would prove extremely difficult.
It was an enormous journey, particularly for ships that had already suffered damage during the fighting. Supplies were running low, crews were exhausted, and the unfamiliar waters, limited navigational information and condition of the ships made the voyage even more dangerous.
As the fleet made its way into the Atlantic, severe weather made an already difficult situation much worse. Ships were scattered, driven off course or wrecked along the Irish coastline. More than twenty Spanish vessels were lost around Ireland, and thousands of men never returned home.
One of the worst disasters happened in September 1588, when three Armada ships were wrecked at Streedagh Bay in County Sligo during a violent storm.
The ships were La Lavia, La Juliana and Santa Maria de Visón. An estimated 1,100 men lost their lives in the wrecks and their aftermath, but a small number managed to survive.
Among them was a Spanish captain named Francisco de Cuéllar, who later described how he managed to reach the shore after his ship was destroyed. Even after escaping the sea, however, Cuéllar still faced considerable danger.
Some survivors encountered hostility from local inhabitants and English Crown forces. Many were killed, while others attempted to escape further inland. Cuéllar was eventually sheltered by Gaelic Irish leaders who helped him avoid capture.
After spending months trying to find a way to safety, he reached Scotland and eventually made his way to the Spanish Netherlands. In October 1589, while in Antwerp, he wrote an account of his experiences. His remarkable letter has survived and remains one of the most valuable eyewitness accounts of the Armada’s disastrous journey home.
Other Spanish ships were lost elsewhere along the Irish coast. Among them was the Girona, which sank near the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim in October 1588. Centuries later, archaeologists recovered coins, jewellery and other belongings from the wreck, offering a glimpse of the people who had travelled aboard her.
Back in England, the failure of the invasion was celebrated as a great victory. Elizabeth’s kingdom had survived one of the greatest threats of her reign, but for the families waiting in Spain, the news was very different.
When we talk about the Spanish Armada, we often concentrate on England’s victory. Yet I can’t help thinking about the sailors who survived the fighting, only to lose their lives while trying to get home. Many had travelled hundreds of miles, enduring battle, hunger, exhaustion and storms, without ever seeing their families again.
Did you know that some of the Armada’s greatest losses happened after the fleet had already left the English Channel?
☕ Have a cuppa and let’s discover history together.
The wreck of the Girona, 1588. Nineteenth-century engraving, artist unknown, published 1897. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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