Two Spanish Armada cannons recovered from shipwrecks off the Sligo and Donegal coastlines are to go on public display in the National Museum of Ireland later this month.
The cannons - a siege gun and a smaller pedrero - represent the museum's first significant acquisitions from the Armada fleet. Most of the material recovered to date has been displayed in the Ulster Museum.
The siege cannon is one of three taken from the Trinidad Valencera, which was lost in Kinnagoe Bay, north Donegal, when bad weather hit the Spanish fleet after the failure of its projected invasion of England in 1588.
Cast from bronze, the gun is almost three metres long, with a 183-millimetre bore, and would have been able to fire a 41-lb iron ball with great accuracy, according to the museum. It is inscribed with the name of the captain general of artillery.
Also clearly visible is the coat of arms of King Philip II of Spain, halved with those of his wife, the Queen of England, Mary Tudor. The inscriptions date from 1556, when he was king consort of England. Mary died childless two years later, leaving the English throne to her Protestant half-sister, Elizabeth, who refused to marry Philip.
Only 60 of the 130 Armada ships survived the battles and bad weather; some 15,000 lives were lost. It is estimated that up to 24 craft may have been wrecked off this coastline.
The Trinidad Valencera, the fourth largest vessel in the Armada fleet, had been involved in heavy fighting with English warships before it fought clear and tried to head for home.
The wreck was discovered by amateur divers in Kinnagoe Bay and much of the material is in good condition because it was buried in sand.
The smaller pedrero gun was recovered off Streedagh Strand, Co Sligo, from the Juliana - one of three vessels lost off that part of the coast. The ships were trapped by a storm on September 21st, 1588, and driven on to the strand, where they broke up and the bodies of 1,000 crew members were later found.
The ships became the subject of a court action involving the English divers who located material there.
The pedrero cannon, made of bronze, was so named because it fired stone shot and was regarded as a "ferocious" weapon at close quarters, according to Mr Rolly Read, head of conservation at the National Museum, and Mr Lar Joye, assistant keeper of its art and industrial division. During the conservation procedure, the cannon was found to be loaded.
The Armada acquisitions are to be unveiled to the public in Collins Barracks on July 31st, at 11 a.m., when there will be a talk on their history and conservation as part of the "Museum Outdoors" summer programme of free events.
