The Intended Voyage of The Girona
Some incomplete notes:
A work in progress based partly on the sinking of the Spanish Galleass ‘La Girona’ off the County Antrim coast in 1588. The Girona was part of the ill-fated Spanish Armada and foundered on the rocks off Lacada Point as it was headed eastward in the hope of finding refuge in Scotland. There were an estimated 1,300 on board The Girona which had been designed for a crew of 300 and among those were slaves from Central and South America and sailors from two other Armada wrecks, ‘La Rata Santa Maria Encoronda‘ and ‘Dunquesa Santa Anna’*. There were nine survivors.
* La Rata Santa Maria Encoronda had run aground in County Mayo and the survivors marched the 25 miles to where they knew the Santa Anna to be anchored. The crew boarded and the Santa Anna set sail only to be wrecked off the coast of Donegal on the 28th September.
Don Alonso Martinez de Leyva (very much) after El Greco. One of the 1,300 onboard the Girona.
The title comes from a ring found on the wreck site made from conquistador gold which says ‘No tengo mas que dar te’ - ‘I have nothing more to give thee’
Further background reading on The Girona can be found here:
https://www.belfastentries.com/stories/true-stories/girona/
Although The Girona actually sank off Lacada Point (Port-na-Spaniagh) the foreground represents Torr Head which is to the east. Torr Head was the sight of a sixth century cashel and in the 1800′s was important for recording the passage of transatlantic shipping for Lloyds of London.
There was a small salmon fishery at Torr and I remember being taken out in an old US army amphibious truck to see the net and a basking shark that had got caught up in it. There was a shed at the back of the slipway that was full of old US Army equipment reputedly left behind when they pulled out from Derry after the Second World War.
