Duchas, the Heritage Service, is examining a possible Armada shipwreck site off the north Mayo coastline, following the discovery of an anchor in Broadhaven Bay.
Supt Tony McNamara of Belmullet Garda station confirmed that the area where the anchor was discovered has been designated a protected area under the National Monuments Act. Supt McNamara, who is also a diver and a second coxswain of the Ballyglass lifeboat, said yesterday it was far too early to say whether it pointed to an Armada wreck.
A local fisherman hauled up the anchor, which was connected to a chain by a wire, in a sandy area between Brandy Point in Broadhaven Bay and Ballyglass lighthouse. It was found to be at least 100 years old. Supt McNamara said it may have been found 30 or 40 years ago by someone who used it as an anchor for a period, and attached the chain for that reason. Local diving clubs have agreed to avoid the area.
North Mayo's treacherous coastline has been a graveyard for many ships, and at least three from the Armada are believed to have foundered there over four centuries ago. One has already been located near Geesala, according to the Irish Underwater Council.
Mr Edward J. Bourke, author of Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast, 1105-1993, records that one is thought to be somewhere between Benwee Head and Downpatrick Head. Two wrecks are believed to be in the Broadhaven area; one at Kid Island, near Brandy Point, and the other near Poulathomas, which is the location for the proposed gas pipeline from the Corrib field off Achill. A Dutch East Indian shipwreck has already been identified in that area, dating from about 1640.
Other shipwrecks in the area include the Arab, a 390-ton sloop which was lost with 101 on board in Broadhaven in 1823.
