Lights Against the Sea: Ireland's Shipwrecks and Lighthouses (1588–2026)

Timeline

Layers

Land · Northern Ireland waters: not in this inventory · Sea within range of a lighthouse or lightship · Wrecks: 1+ per 100 km² in ten years · Wrecks: 4+ per 100 km² in ten years · Wrecks: 12+ per 100 km² in ten years

Events

• 16 Sep 1588, La Trinidad Valencera · 16 Sep 1588: A 1,100-ton Armada transport sprang a leak off Donegal; her crew and soldiers were ferried ashore in a captured prize. Derry sub-aqua divers found the wreck in 1971.
• 21 Sep 1588, Santa Maria de la Rosa · 21 Sep 1588: The vice-flagship of the Armada's Guipuzcoan squadron sheltered in Blasket Sound, dragged her anchors and struck a reef, sinking within moments. A single survivor is recorded. Divers found her in 1968.
• 21 Sep 1588, San Esteban and San Marcos (Clare coast) · 21 Sep 1588: Armada ships were wrecked along the Clare coast in the same gales: San Esteban at Doonbeg, San Marcos near Mal Bay. Survivors who got ashore were rounded up and executed on the Sheriff of Clare's orders.
• 24 Sep 1588, Duquesa Santa Ana · 24 Sep 1588: Driven into Loughros More Bay in Donegal (the wreck inventory places her off Rosbeg), the Armada ship grounded after storms. About 900 aboard got ashore, were sheltered by local chiefs and walked some 30 km to Killybegs to join the Girona.
• 25 Sep 1588, La Lavia, La Juliana and Santa Maria de Vision · 25 Sep 1588: Three Armada ships anchored off Streedagh in a northwesterly gale and were driven ashore together. Captain Francisco de Cuellar, one of few survivors, left a famous account of his escape through Ireland. Roughly 1,000 to 1,800 men died across the three ships.
• 25 Sep 1588, Falcon Blanco Mediano · 25 Sep 1588: Seeking shelter on the Connemara coast, this 300-ton Armada hulk with 103 men aboard was wrecked on a reef at the mouth of Ballynakill Harbour (position and identity still debated). The survivors were sheltered at first by the O'Flahertys of Connemara, then handed over to Governor Bingham in Galway…
• 26 Oct 1588, Girona (Armada galleass) · 26 Oct 1588: Overloaded with survivors of other Armada wrecks, the galleass left Killybegs for Scotland, lost her rudder and struck Lacada Point on a stormy night. Of about 1,300 aboard, only nine survived. Belgian divers found her gold in 1967–68.
• 2 Jan 1797, La Surveillante (French frigate) · 2 Jan 1797: In December 1796 a French invasion fleet reached Bantry Bay but never landed: storms scattered it. The crippled frigate was scuttled in January 1797 about a mile north-east of Whiddy Island. Her wreck was rediscovered during seabed clearance after the Whiddy Island oil terminal disaster of 1979.
• 20 Nov 1807, Prince of Wales and Rochdale · 20 Nov 1807: Two troop transports left Dublin and, in an easterly gale and snow, were driven onto rocks that night: Prince of Wales at Blackrock (behind Blackrock House) and Rochdale at the Seapoint tower, half a mile apart. About 385 died, mostly soldiers and families, within sight of shore. Public outcry led t…
• 4 Dec 1811, HMS Saldanha · 4 Dec 1811: The 36-gun frigate, leaving Lough Swilly, was driven ashore near Ballymastocker in a gale. All 253 aboard died. Fanad Head lighthouse was built in 1817 to guide ships into Lough Swilly.
• 30 Jan 1816, Sea Horse · 30 Jan 1816: The troop transport, carrying the 59th Regiment and families from Ramsgate to Cork, was blown into Tramore Bay and wrecked below the cliffs, mistaken for Waterford Harbour; 363 people died. Warning beacons and the Metal Man were erected at Tramore in 1823.
• 16 Jan 1847, SS Sirius · 16 Jan 1847: The pioneering transatlantic steamer, by then a Cork–Dublin packet, hit Smith's Rocks about half a mile from Ballycotton in fog. Twenty died, most when the only launched lifeboat, overloaded, was swamped; others were saved by a rope to shore. Ballycotton lighthouse was built on the island in 1851.
• 10 Nov 1847, Stephen Whitney · 10 Nov 1847: The American packet from New York for Liverpool mistook Roaringwater Bay for Cork Harbour in thick fog and struck rocks near Schull; 92 of the 110 aboard died. A review of the south-coast lights led to the Fastnet Rock lighthouse, lit in 1854.
• 15 Feb 1853, PS Queen Victoria · 15 Feb 1853: The Dublin-bound paddle steamer from Liverpool ran onto rocks below the Baily in a snowstorm at about 2 a.m., with about 100 passengers. Between 53 and 80 people died on the rocks or were swept from the wreck. A fog bell was installed at the Baily lighthouse after the inquiry.
• 21 Jan 1854, RMS Tayleur · 21 Jan 1854: The brand-new iron clipper, chartered to carry emigrants to Australia, was driven onto Lambay on her maiden voyage, her compasses thrown off by the iron hull. 'Fingal's Titanic' drew the Board of Trade's attention to compass errors in iron ships. Estimates of the dead range from about 220 to 380 of…
• 5 Aug 1858, Atlantic cable lands at Valentia · 5 Aug 1858: The first transatlantic telegraph cable comes ashore at Valentia Island, making Kerry a telegraph hub.
• 28 Apr 1859, Pomona · 28 Apr 1859: Liverpool emigrant ship bound for New York ran onto the Blackwater Bank off Wexford in the early hours of 28 April 1859. About 424 of 448 aboard drowned; 24 survived, 19 of them crew.
• 24 Dec 1895, Palme and the Kingstown lifeboat · 24 Dec 1895: The Finnish-owned (Russian flag) barque Palme went aground in a gale off Kingstown on Christmas Eve 1895. The Kingstown lifeboat Civil Service No. 7 capsized going to her and all 15 crew drowned; Palme's people were rescued by the Irish Lights steamer Tearaght. A Kingstown Life-Boat Disaster Fund wa…
• 6 Jul 1898, Marconi links Ballycastle and Rathlin · Jul 1898: Marconi's team sets up a wireless link between Rathlin East Lighthouse and Ballycastle for Lloyd's, so that ships passing Rathlin could be reported to the mainland.
• 1902, Marconi station at Crookhaven · 1902: Marconi tests at Crookhaven in 1901; the station opens in 1902 and moves to Brow Head in 1904.
• 1902, Malin Head wireless station opens · 1902: Malin Head radio opens at the Lloyd's signal tower in 1902 and handles the first commercial ship message.
• 1914, Valentia Radio operational · 1914: Valentia Radio (EJK) takes over from Crookhaven around 1914.
• 20 Feb 1914, Helen Blake lifeboat and the Mexico · 20 Feb 1914: The Norwegian schooner Mexico, carrying mahogany, ran aground on the Keeragh Islands off Bannow Bay on 20 February 1914. The Fethard lifeboat Helen Blake was wrecked on South Keeragh going to her and nine of her 14 crew drowned; one man from the Mexico died of exposure. The RNLI had already decided…
• 27 Oct 1914, HMS Audacious · 27 Oct 1914: The new dreadnought hit a mine laid by the Berlin off Tory Island and sank after a day; one man was killed. The Admiralty tried to conceal the loss.
• 7 May 1915, RMS Lusitania · 7 May 1915: The Cunard liner was torpedoed by U-20 off the Old Head of Kinsale and sank in 18 minutes; about 1,200 died. Survivors were landed at Queenstown (Cobh). The outrage helped push the United States toward war in 1917.
• 21 Apr 1916, SS Aud (Libau) · 21 Apr 1916: The German gun-runner carrying rifles for the Easter Rising was intercepted by the Royal Navy on 21 April before the arms could be landed and, while being escorted into Cork Harbour, scuttled by her own crew off Daunt Rock. The crew survived.
• 3 Nov 1916, SS Connemara and Retriever · 3 Nov 1916: The Greenore ferry Connemara and the collier Retriever collided in the lough in a gale, both sinking. 97 people died; the only survivor was James Boyle, a fireman from the Retriever.
• 23 Jan 1917, SS Laurentic · 25 Jan 1917: The armed merchant cruiser, carrying gold to pay for war supplies from Canada and the United States, hit two mines off Lough Swilly on 25 January 1917 and sank; 354 of about 475 aboard died. Most of the gold was later salvaged by divers.
• 2 Oct 1917, HMS Drake · 2 Oct 1917: The armoured cruiser was torpedoed by U-79 off Rathlin Island on 2 October 1917, steamed to Church Bay, anchored, and capsized that afternoon after her crew was taken off. Eighteen men were killed. She lies in 15–19 m and is a popular dive site.
• 10 Oct 1918, RMS Leinster · 10 Oct 1918: The mail boat Leinster was torpedoed by UB-123 shortly after leaving Kingstown for Holyhead, the worst loss of life in the Irish Sea: between 500 and about 570 died.
• 28 Oct 1927, Cleggan Bay disaster · 28 Oct 1927: A sudden storm struck mackerel fishermen from Rossadillisk, Inishbofin and elsewhere. Forty-five died, and Rossadillisk was largely abandoned.
• 8 Feb 1936, Comet lightship and Mary Stanford · 8 Feb 1936: The Daunt lightship Comet broke her moorings in a gale. The Ballycotton lifeboat Mary Stanford saved the crew after a service of about 63 hours. Ballycotton station and its coxswain won RNLI gold medals.
• 19 Dec 1940, ILV Isolda · 19 Dec 1940: The Irish Lights tender Isolda, sailing from Rosslare to serve the Barrels and Coningbeg lightships, was bombed by a German aircraft within sight of Carnsore Point, despite 'Lighthouse Service' painted on her hull. Six men died and seven were wounded.
• 31 Jan 1953, MV Princess Victoria · 31 Jan 1953: The Stranraer-Larne ferry lost her stern door in a storm on 31 January 1953 and sank in the North Channel; 135 people died. The wreck, found in 1992 about 5 miles NNE of the Copeland Islands in 90 m, lies far north of her last radioed position. The Donaghadee lifeboat Sir Samuel Kelly took survivors…
• 9 Nov 1965, Kish lighthouse replaces lightship · 9 Nov 1965: The Kish Bank lighthouse is commissioned and the old lightship withdrawn.
• 8 Jan 1979, Betelgeuse · 8 Jan 1979: The French tanker exploded while discharging crude at the Gulf Oil terminal on Whiddy Island, killing 50 people; a salvage diver died later. Only 27 bodies were recovered. The Costello tribunal (1980) blamed the ship's condition, the way she was unloaded and ballasted, and inadequate firefighting.
• 14 Aug 1979, 1979 Fastnet Race storm · 14 Aug 1979: A storm hit the biennial Fastnet yacht race on 13-14 August 1979 between Land's End and the Fastnet Rock; at least 75 boats capsized, five yachts sank and 15 competitors died. Offshore Special Regulations were rewritten after the inquiry.
• 22 Nov 1986, MV Kowloon Bridge · 22 Nov 1986: The bulk carrier lost power in a storm and struck The Stags off west Cork, spilling oil along the coast. Her crew were lifted off by helicopter.
• 24 Mar 1997, Last keepers leave Baily · 24 Mar 1997: Baily becomes the last manned Irish lighthouse to automate, ending two centuries of keepers.
• 1 Feb 2009, Last Irish lightship withdrawn · Feb 2009: The South Rock lightship off Co Down is withdrawn, the last lightship in Irish waters.
• 16 Feb 2020, MV Alta · 16 Feb 2020: Abandoned in October 2018 with engine failure when her crew was rescued about 2,200 km (1,400 mi) from Bermuda, the ghost ship drifted for 16 months and ran aground near Ballycotton in Storm Dennis on 16 February 2020.

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