My Local History Project.
The Spanish Armada.
By Matthew Lee
In 1588 the Spanish attacked England with an Armada which had over 130 warships sailing in a crescent formation. The battle went on for 7 days.
Francisco De Cuellar was the captain of the ship San Pedro. The ship was a front line squadron of the Spanish Armada.
When the Spanish Armada arrived the English saw them straight away because of how big the Armada was. The Soon into the battle the English sent out fire ships the Spanish would not have time to pull up the anchors and sail away , so the Spanish would have to cut there anchors and sail away breaking up the crescent formation making it easier for the English to attack.
Francisco’s ship had been shipwrecked in Streadgah beach Sligo Ireland.
Francisco was found by the English and he was robbed stripped from his clothing. He tuck cover in a mountain there was some nice people there and the people gave him new clothes and fresh food to eat.
Francisco had to hide from the Irish and the Spanish. While he was hiding he decided to write a diary about the Spanish Armada and everything that had happened with England and Spain.
The people in the mountains told Francisco about the chieftain in county Leitrim who would give him better shelter than they had here. So a day later Francisco got packed up and headed for county Leitrim.
He got to the Chieftains house and was provided with shelter for one month.
After his month was up Francisco De Cuellar left he stole a ship and sailed to Spain. When he got there he shared his story with hundreds and of people.
And that is how the Spanish Armada is a big story in Sligo.
On May 28th 1588, the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, headed for England with 150 ships and 30,000 men.
The Spanish Armada was a Hapsburg Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from Curunna in late May 1588, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England.
The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 – a fleet of Spanish ships led by Spanish commander Medina Sidonia with the purpose of overthrowing Queen Elizabeth 1 – is considered one of England’s greatest military achievements and one that served to boost the monarchies popularity.
Both Elizabeth’s ministers and King Philip of Spain expected that the 50 per cent of England’s population that remained Catholic would rise in support of the Spanish invaders after any landing.
Three of the galleons in the Spanish Armada, La Lavia, La Juliana and La Maria de las Vison were ship wrecked off Streedagh beach, trying to escape back to Spain.
Last changed: Jul 06 2021 at 3:21 PM
