The Greyhound (1770 shipwreck)

The Greyhound was a coastal trading vessel based in Whitby that was wrecked in a storm off the coast of County Sligo on 12 December 1770.[1] The wreck has been known locally as The butter boat.[1]

Vessel

The Greyhound was owned by a Mrs Alley.[2] A captain Douthard was in command of the vessel.[3][4]

Wreck

The Greyhound had been caught in a storm off the coast of County Mayo.[1] They could not get shelter in Broadhaven Bay and were forced to anchor near Erris Head.[1] The crew abandoned ship, then realised they had forgotten the cabin boy.[1] Some of the crew, along with volunteers and crew of a passing ship Mary, from Galway, returned to rescue him and managed to get aboard the Greyhound.[1] The storm was so bad that the vessel was driven ashore at Streedagh point, where 20 of the 21 on board drowned.[1] The sole survivor had stayed on board and when the vessel settled on the beach he alerted people, but the others had already been lost.[1]

Speculation on identity

The identity of the vessel had been lost, leading to speculation that it might have been part of The Spanish Armada or a tourist boat.[1]

Identification

Oak timbers from the wreck were dated to some time after 1712 in the first half of the 18th century by dendrochronologist Dr. Aoife Daly.[1][5] The National Monuments Service said that the timber was probably sourced from the English midlands or Yorkshire.[5] This was cross-referenced to a database of over a hundred shipwrecks off the Sligo coast in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Irish Folklore Commission and newspaper accounts, leading to the vessel being identified.[1]

See also

References
  1. Magnier, Eileen (16 December 2020). "True identity of Streedagh beach 'Butter Boat' uncovered". RTÉ News. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  2. "Sligo shipwreck revealed to be Whitby Greyhound boat". BBC News. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. O'Riordan, Ellen (17 December 2020). "Mystery of Sligo shipwreck solved 250 years after it sank". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  4. "Shipwreck mystery solved – 250 years to the week it sank". gov.ie. 2020-12-17. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  5. Siggins, Lorna (2020-12-17). "Sligo Shipwreck Mystery Solved – 250 Years After it Sank". afloat.ie. Retrieved 2020-12-17.

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