Conservation works begin on Spanish Armada treasures recovered from Kinnego Bay

A remarkable collection of artefacts connected to one of Inishowen’s most important maritime heritage sites is to undergo conservation in Belfast to ensure their survival for future generations.

The objects were recovered from La Trinidad Valencera, a 1,100-ton Spanish Armada transporter that foundered in Kinnego Bay in September 1588. Having been battered by storms, the vessel limped to anchor on the Inishowen coast and sank a couple of days later with survivors making it ashore.

Some 400 soldiers and sailors came ashore, but an estimated 300 were massacred by the forces of Hugh O’Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, who at that time was allied to the English crown.

The Armada had been launched by the king of Spain in a bold but ill-fated attempt to invade England.

A fleet of more than 130 ships set sail with the aim of overthrowing England’s Queen Elizabeth I and restoring Catholic rule. Instead, the Armada was scattered by fierce naval battles and violent Atlantic storms, with many ships wrecked along Ireland’s and Scotland’s northern and western coasts.

Nearly four centuries later, in 1970 and 1971, divers from the City of Derry Sub-Aqua Club discovered the wreck and recovered many items from the seabed.

The find at Kinnego Bay was hailed as one of the most significant maritime archaeological discoveries in Ireland, giving an extraordinary insight into the ill-fated Armada expedition.


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The exhibition of artefacts at Derry’s Tower Museum has attracted visitors from across the world who came to view cannons, navigational instruments and everyday items carried on board the ship more than four centuries ago.

This week, specialists began the delicate process of transferring parts of the collection back to the care of National Museums NI in Belfast for conservation. Among the items being treated are a bronze siege gun, a cannon known as a culverin and a rare 16th-century gun carriage wheel. These will undergo specialist work to stabilise them and protect against further deterioration.

Following conservation, the Armada treasures will form a major feature at new DNA (Derry North Atlantic) Museum at Ebrington which is due to open in 2027.

For Inishowen, the shipwreck remains a powerful reminder of the peninsula’s deep connection with the sea. Kinnego Bay’s Armada legacy is woven into local memory, drawing visitors to the shoreline where history washed up in 1588.

Preserving the artefacts ensures that the story of La Trinidad Valencera - from her fateful anchorage at Kinnego Bay to her rediscovery nearly 400 years later - continues to be remembered.

It is a story of international importance, but also one that firmly anchors Inishowen’s maritime heritage at the heart of Irish and European history.