The Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada was an enormous 130 ship naval fleet dispatched by King Philip II of Spain in 1588 as part of a planned invasion of England and the dethroning of Queen Elizabeth I.
Following King Philip HI of Spain's ill-fated attempt to invade Elizabethan England and reinstate Catholicism in 1588, the Spanish fleet was in the process of retreating when it was driven from its course by violent storms, straight towards the west coast of Ireland.
Killybegs was the last port that the Spanish vessel, La Girona, sought refuge in order to have repairs carried out. With the assistance of Killybegs
chieftain, MacSweeney Bannagh, the Girona's crew were fed and the ship was repaired.
The ships La Duquesa Santa Ana and La Rata Santa Maria Encoronada also foundered in the storm. The survivors travelled 30km from Rosbeg through Ardara to Killybegs to board the now repaired La Girona to set sail for Scotland.
However, this journey was also unsuccessful and La Girona was wrecked off the Antrim coast where just nine of the 1,300 crew survived.
A treasure trove of lost gold, silver, jewellery and armaments from the vessel, discovered 400 years