'Butter Boat' shipwreck's mystery unravelled 250 years after it capsized off Irish coast

The mystery of a shipwreck of the large vessel known as the “Butter Boat” that mysteriously sank off the coast of Ireland, killing at least 20, has been solved after nearly 250 years. The Irish County Sligo landmark and popular tourist attractions have been curious about the sunken ship which became a part of the fabled Spanish Armada in the 16th century. According to the researchers at Ireland’s National Monuments Service, last week, due to the low tide in the ocean, the wooden remains of a well-known wreck emerged at Streedagh Strand.

The scientists at National Monuments Service collected the timbers of the shipwreck under licence from the National Museum of Ireland and conducted a detailed dendrochronological analysis. It was found that the shipwrecked vessel sailed off Whitby. Researchers identified it to be ‘Greyhound’, a coastal trading ship that operated from the North Yorkshire.

According to a statement by the NMS, after the researchers delved into the 18th Century historical accounts of the oak timbers that were obtained by NMS. Scientific analysis was undertaken by Denmark-based dendrochronologist Dr Aoife Daly, who found that from the dating sequences of the wood that the ship was constructed sometime after the year 1712.

The timber was outsourced from English midland, and 18th-century 'dendro' date dismissed the previous associations with  16th century Spanish Armada. After reviewing the data from the Freeman’s Journal, the NMS researchers proposed that the ‘Butter Boat’ was a vessel owned by Mrs Allely which was constructed in the year 1747 and was used for trading as it voyaged between Britain and Ireland. 

Ireland’s Minister of State for Heritage, Malcolm Noonan T.D said: “I am proud that through archaeological investigation, scientific analysis and historical archival research our National Monuments Service has been able to finally confirm that the wreck is that of the Greyhound, so tragically lost on 12 December 1770.”

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Sank due to 'unfavourable wins'

“In December 1770, under the command of a Captain Douthard, the 23-year-old ship was forced to seek refuge from a winter storm in Broadhaven Bay, Co. Mayo,” the researchers revealed. “Unfavourable winds, however, prevented the Greyhound from entering the safety of the sheltered harbour and the Greyhound had to anchor beneath the towering cliffs off Erris Head,” they added further in an online statement. The vessel dashed against the same cliffs that wrecked the vessel named Rain, en route from New York to Galway. While the ship’s Captain Douthard and his crew harboured to safety at Broadhaven Bay, a  cabin boy was left behind. 

Meanwhile, the NMS cited The Irish Folklore Commission’s Schools Manuscripts Collection, archived in University College Dublin to provide more key details about the mysterious ship. It mentioned the vessel’s account delivered by a Streedagh local, a 75-year-old Michael MacGowan, in the year 1937. MacGowan described that the vessel as a “tourist boat”, driven ashore at Streedagh Point some 200 years ago. “All the crew bar one attempted to clamber to safety over the rocks at Streedagh Point but were drowned after falling into a deep recess between the rocks,” MacGowan narrated.

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