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The Story of the GironaThe Ulster Museum in Belfast is home to the most significant collection of material excavated from Armada ships wrecked off the coast of Ireland. Among the many exceptional pieces – from cannon and ship's equipment to clothing, coins and domestic utensils – is the outstanding Girona collection, excavated in 1968/9. The Girona was a large galleass, built in Naples and captained by Fabricio Spinola of Genoa. She was among the remnants of the fleet attempting to get back to Spain, having been forced to skirt the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. On board the galleass were 1,300 men – nearly three times the number she was designed to carry, as she had picked up survivors from two other shipwrecks, including Don Alonso Martinez de Leiva, commander-designate of the fleet. On the morning of 26 October 1588, heavily overladen and battered by ferocious storms off the northern Irish coast, the Girona sank near the Giant's Causeway, with the loss of all but five souls. A dazzling amount of Renaissance jewellery and coins was recovered from the site, the personal effects of the officers on board and those rescued from the other two ships. These young nobles, from some of the wealthiest families in Spain, would have been carrying some of their personal fortunes in coinage. Among the treasures found were religious medals and crosses belonging to all ranks, a heavy gold ring bearing the initials 'IHS', undoubtedly worn by one of the Jesuit priests accompanying the fleet, and a beautifully intricate Agnus Dei reliquary in the form of a little golden book with a depiction of St John the Baptist on the cover. Several crosses of orders of chivalry were also found – a cross of a Knight of Alcantara, a cross of a Knight of St John of Jerusalem and, from a Knight of Santiago de Compostela, a beautiful gold and red enamelled cross that belonged to de Leiva himself. Eleven portrait cameos of Byzantine caesars in lapis lazuli, gold, enamel and pearls would once have been part of a magnificent chain or collar. Amazingly, in 1998, 30 years after the initial excavation, the 12th cameo was found and later purchased for the museum by the National Art Collections Fund. The set is now complete. One of the best-loved pieces in the collection is the little gold salamander pendant with three of its original nine rubies still in place. The winged lizard is said in legend to be able to extinguish and survive fire – a good mascot to have on board a wooden fighting ship. The salamander also appears on one of 12 gold rings found at the wreck site. Another of the rings was worn by Don Tomas Perreneto, who was only 22 when he died in the shipwreck. The ring is engraved 'Madame de Champagney MDXXIIII [1524]', the name of Don Tomas's grandmother. The identity of the owner of another of the best-known pieces is unknown: a gold ring – probably a lover's gift – showing a hand holding a heart and bearing the poignant inscription 'No tengo mas que dar te' – 'I have nothing more to give thee.' Over 1,300 coins – gold, silver and copper – were recovered, minted in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Mexico and Peru from metals mined in the Spanish-conquered lands of the New World. Not only precious objects survived the wreck – the Girona yielded up navigational equipment and small cannon (all but five of the ship’s cannon were jettisoned to make room for the additional men on board). One of these was a bronze esmeril – a half-pounder swivel gun – bearing the arms of Spain and the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Reminders of everyday life on board ship survived – from elegant silver candlesticks and table settings, and rare silver forks (only just coming into favour at the time) to plain wooden utensils, bowls and plates used by ordinary soldiers and sailors. Even a plum stone turned up! Parts of the collection, along with items recovered from La Trinidad Valencera and the Santa Maria de la Rosa, are always on display in the Ulster Museum, such is the enduring interest not only in the pieces themselves, but also in the story of the great enterprise and the personal histories of some of the participants in the tragedy. Ulster Museum Enquiries about the collection should be addressed to: |
