Wrath of the Atlantic – Wrecks of the Armada

Wrath of the Atlantic – Wrecks of the Armada – experience the new Virtual Reality experience now available at the Inishowen Maritime Greencastle in Greencastle.
This VR experience takes you back in time to the Spanish Armada era dating back to the 16th Century. It focuses on two ships that entered Donegal’s waters: La Girona and La Trinidad Valencera.
La Girona travelled into Killybegs Harbour to repair her rudders. Almost 1,500 men from nearby shipwrecks travelled by foot to Killybegs to seek passage back to Spain.
At Kinnagoe Bay, the VR experience takes you on the journey where the Captain deliberately ran La Trinidad Valencera ashore after fighting with 7 feet of water in her bows for days. They met the friendly Irish who ferried them to shore over two days and gave them food in exchange for salvage from the boat.

The VR experience finishes with footage from a BBC documentary where items were salvaged from the shipwreck by the Derry Sub Aqua Club in 1975. Some of these artefacts are on loan from the Ulster Museum today and can be seen at the Inishowen Maritime Museum for the summer months.
For more details on this experience and Donegal’s other three new Virtual Experiences; www.govisitdonegal.com/virtual-reality-experiences
For more information on the TIDE Project www.tide-atlantic.eu

Switching Back To Our Winter Time Table

Folks with the winter months on our doorstep, we here at the Inishowen Maritime Museum & Tearoom will be reverting back to our winter timetable starting today 02/09/2022 which is:

Monday – Friday

10.30am – 4.00pm

Last admission 3.30pm

We would like to thank everyone who came down to the museum during the summer months and look forward to your continued support over the winter time.

Screening of BBC Chronicle Documentary of ‘La Trinidad Valencera’ Dive Expedition

To celebrate National Heritage Week and Water Heritage Day 2022 the Inishowen Maritime Museum will be screening the BBC Chronicle Documentary of ‘La Trinidad Valencera’ Dive Expedition on the 21st of August at 3pm

La Trinidad Valencera, was the fourth largest ship in the Spanish Armada fleet, which set out to conquer England in 1588. However, having sprung a leak, the ship sought shelter in Kinnagoe Bay, off the coast of Inishowen, Co. Donegal, where it struck a hidden reef just 200 yards from shore and sunk. In the early 1970’s thirteen divers from the City of Derry Sub Aqua Club discovered the important wreck and were subsequently involved in its excavation.

Spaces limited. Please book via Eventbrite at the bottom of link provided https://www.heritageweek.ie/event-listings/screening-of-bbc-chronicle-documentary-of-la-trinidad-valencera-dive-expedition

Great Success At The First Food Fair Held At Inishowen Maritime Museum

The food fair that was held at Inishowen Maritime Museum as part of Greencastle Regatta celebrations was a huge success. On Friday the 5th of August, hundreds of people descended onto the grounds of the museum to sample and buy the delicious food that was on offer from the invited food companies, which included BakeRona , Foyle Bia Mara, Malabar Kitchen, The Cocktail Co, small_but_mighty_fuel. The food, the people, the weather and the music which was provided by Ceolan School of Music made the day a great success and we here at the museum would like to thank everyone that helped make it happen and can’t wait for next years one.

Food Fair to be held at Inishowen Maritime Museum for Greencastle Regatta

As part of Greencastle Regatta and Festival celebrations, this Friday 5/8/2022 between the hours of 12pm and 4pm will see for the first time a food fair being held outside in the garden of Inishowen Maritime Museum. A number of local food companies will attend which include La Mi James St. Deli , BakeRona , Foyle Bia Mara, Malabar Kitchen, The Cocktail Co, small_but_mighty_fuel, and The Barkery.

*Please note, due to Road Closure our Customer Carpark will not be accessible during this time. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Please contact the museum for disabled parking enquiries.* Thank you

Donegal’s Virtual Reality Experiences – Saldanha & Armada

Not to be missed! Donegal’s New Virtual Reality Experiences – ‘The Storm, The Sea, The Saldahna’ & ‘Wrath of the Atlantic, Wrecks of the Armada’. Visit Fanad Lighthouse, Fort Dunree & Inishowen Maritime Museum & you & your family will see Donegal’s new Historic Martime VR experiences – just launched! #keepdiscoveringdonegal

The Grace O’Malley arrives on the shores of Lough Foyle for the Foyle Maritime Festival

 

Ireland’s latest sail training vessel has anchored off Greencastle, on her way to Derry for the Foyle Maritime Festival.

She was purchased, in Sweden, by the charity, Atlantic Youth Trust, chaired by Round the World sailor and former Director of Coiste an Asgard, Enda O’Coineen.

The Atlantic Youth Trust was formed to connect Irish young people with the ocean and adventure while developing sustainability and supporting and protecting the environment.

It was formed by private individuals and organisations throughout the island of Ireland to offer youths an introduction to life at sea.

As well as being a sail training vessel, she will have a key role in areas of research, innovation, tourism promotion and providing a support outlet for vulnerable young people.

Mr O’Coineen, and the charity have been campaigning for years to acquire a replacement for the State’s last training ship, “Asgard II” , which sank in the Bay of Biscay on 11 September 2008.

The government of the day would not support salvaging the vessel and, instead, claimed the €3.8 million insurance money.

Thanks to the charity’s lobbying, €950, 000 in annual funding was secured from the National Lottery Fund. The charity committed to raising €2.5 million, in private sponsorship, to purchase the new vessel, “The Lady Ellen”, owned by Tarbet Shipping and operated out of Skarhamn, Sweden.

She is a 164-foot, Tradewind Schooner, built by Kockums Submarine Yard, In Karlskrona, Sweden, and launched 10th August 1980, for the luxury yacht charter market.

Although built of steel, she is a replica of the timber merchant schooner, “Ellen”, originally built in Denmark in 1909, to a design by Lars-Erik Johansson.

She will be upgraded to modern safety standards but will have her luxury passenger accommodation replaced by a simpler layout, better suited to a sail training role.

She will be rigged as a topsail schooner, with a 30-metre mainmast, carrying 13 sails setting 800 square metres.

She is powered by a 550hp Scania diesel engine, a 250hp Hundested bow-thruster, 2 x 46kw and 1 x 29kw generators.

The ship will be tied up in Derry for the Foyle Maritime Festival.

After that she will go to drydock for renovations and surveys before being registered in Ireland and renamed “Grace O’Malley”.

Picture and video of the Grace O’Malley courtesy of Aerial Vision NI https://www.facebook.com/aerialvisionni

New Virtual Reality experiences have arrived at Inishowen Maritime Museum

The three Virtual Reality experiences have been created as part of the EU funded TIDE project, and include ‘The Storm, The Sea – The Saldanha’ at Fanad Lighthouse, the ‘Wrath of the Atlantic, Wrecks of the Armada’ at Inishowen Maritime Museum & Planetarium and the ‘Beware! Convoy Below World War 1’ at Fort Dunree.

The TIDE Project is funded by both the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme and Donegal County Council and is being led by Ernact.  Other project partners are from Northern Ireland, UK, France, Spain and Portugal.  The main focus of the TIDE Project is to promote a common maritime theme among all the projects partners while at the same time adding a new dimension to both the tourism and cultural heritage in the Atlantic region using the latest technology and to enrich the visitor experiences.

The TIDE project focuses mainly on the Napoleonic, Spanish Armada, World Wars & Atlantic Migration eras.

The public are invited to visit Fanad LighthouseFort Dunree and the Inishowen Maritime Museum to enjoy these virtual reality experiences.

Coming Soon! New Virtual Reality Experiences

Coming soon! New VR experiences will be launched in Donegal! #lovedonegal
The experiences marry Maritime History with the latest technology in the form of Virtual Reality! #keepdiscoveringdonegal
Here at the Inishowen Maritime Museum we will have two of these VR experiences – ‘Wrath of the Atlantic, Wrecks of the Armada’ – dating back to the 16th Century & the Spanish Armada era, the experience focuses on La Girona and La Trinidad Valencera & their final journeys; https://tide-atlantic.eu/NewsDetail?MediaNewsId=1363
‘Beware! Convoy Below’ – a shared TIDE International Partner experience with Derry City & Strabane Co Co, Devon Co Co & Clarte in France. The experience dates back to the early 20th century & World War 1 era where the ships left Buncrana, headed for Rathmullen pier, attached the Kite Balloons onto the ship and at over 1,000 feet kept an eye for U-boats & mines; https://tide-atlantic.eu/NewsDetail?MediaNewsId=1367
Stay tuned!