The Bigger They Come, The Harder They Fall

Despite its somewhat dramatic opening, “On 18 August 1588 a bark of Southampton was fishing about 36 miles southeast of Sumburgh Head, Shetland, when the crew sighted the Spanish Armada approaching from over the horizon to the south”, the book “The Downfall of the Spanish Armada in Ireland” by Ken Douglas begins where the romance and the glory of that most colourful of invasions ended and the inevitably tragic and sordid debacle began.

The story opens with the remaining 120 vessels (of an original 130) of the extraordinary flotilla left with the best part of 30,000 men on board trying to find their way back to Spain. The pursuing English fleet has lost touch with them. This caused concern as the Armada was still a menace. The fact that the Southampton fishermen had spotted them confirmed that they were heading home. However it took two weeks for that information to reach London so by that time it would have been acted on, the Armada could have been safely home.

This book describes how the lack of navigational knowledge and ignorance of the western seaboard of Ireland, helped by some freak weather, finished off what Drake and his fellow mariners began and the story is a fascinating if somewhat tragic revelation of the realities of naval warfare in the sixteenth century.

In Part I, the author sets out the foundation for the story – the fateful decision of the Armada leadership taken in the North Sea on the 11th of August to return to Spain by sailing round the north of Scotland and down the West Coast of Ireland. He then goes on to describe the influence the weather, sixteenth century navigational techniques and ocean currents had on the Armada’s failure to follow the sailing instructions.

Part II sets down in great detail the Armada experience in Ireland from the beginning of September to mid November 1588. This section is full of fascinating detail of local interest. There were reports of one ship that cast anchor close to Barna. Apparently 70 of her men came ashore looking for supplies. They were captured and the mayor of Galway was willing to spare their lives if they would yield up their goods and ship. However, the captain, seeing how his men were being treated, took to the sea, although the mayor reported that the ship was in such poor condition and the crew lacked victuals they would never made it back to Spain. The records, or lack of them, would suggest he was wrong. (The book does not tell us what befell the 70 captured men). This section is by far the most interesting in the book, filled as it is with such fascinating stories at the same time underlining the tragic end suffered by many of the survivors who were butchered by English and Irish alike.

In Part III, the author shifts the narrative to the twentieth century and pays tribute to the work of the divers who found and excavated Armada wrecks off the Irish coast. He concludes the section with a guide to Armada sites in Ireland. Part IV includes the diaries of two Armada survivors: Captain Cuellar who describes his escape and subsequent journey through Connacht and Ulster, and Marcos de Aramburu which is a record of the Armada’s voyage around the north coast of Scotland and into the Atlantic.

Despite the sporadic structure and the somewhat hesitant style of narration, this book is well worth reading not only because it debunks the mythology that surrounds the Spanish Armada and gives an intriguing insight into the life of sixteenth century Ireland, but also because it underlines the tragedy and sordid futility of war, no matter when, why or how it is waged.

desi@kennys.ie