Captain Cuellar’s Adventures in Connaught and Ulster, A.D. 1588

by Francisco de Cuellar, Hugh Allingham, Robert Crawford

This is an extraordinarily bleak account of the survival of Francisco De Cuellar's, captain of the San Pedro, shipwrecked off the Sligo coast along with other vessels of the Spanish Armada. Washed up on Streedagh, injured and virtually naked, he faced a series of horrors ashore. Appalled by the sight of the bodies of twelve of his compatriots hanging from the ceiling of a ruined monastery and hounded by English troops and some locals, he bundled his way from horror to horror, in constant fear of capture and certain death in the English garrisoned North Sligo/Leitrim area. He eventually found refuge with chieftains of the clans O'Rourke and McClancy, before making his way northward to and escaping to Scotland.

Genres: Nonfiction, Historical, Travel, History

92 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1589

About the author

Francisco de Cuéllar was a Spanish sea captain who sailed with the Spanish Armada in 1588 and was wrecked on the coast of Ireland. He is best known for his account of his experiences in Ireland as he escaped from capture.

Reviews

[Monty Milne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating tale although unfortunately it is very brief and here padded out with an overly long and repetitious introduction. I closed it full of admiration for the resourceful Captain Cuellar and thankful that he lived to tell his tale – against all odds. There are some delightful episodes – his heroic defence of a small Irish fort with some Spanish companions earned him such admiration from the Irish chief whose fort it was, that he offered Cuellar his daughter in marriage! Other aspects of the tale are, however, somewhat depressing. I know that had the Armada been successful many Englishmen would have been burned alive the length and breadth of the land, but this does not justify the murdering criminality of Willliam Fitzwilliam, the English Governor of Ireland, and his repulsive hunting down and killing of the poor shipwrecked Spaniards.

It was also strange that Cuellar always refers to the Irish as “savages”, even when they save his life or speak to him in Latin. This seems somewhat ungrateful, to put it mildly.

[Gearóid O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best account of how the Irish lived in the 16th century told from a relatively non-partisan viewpoint.

[Fiona Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating letter by a Spanish Armada captain who was shipwrecked in Ireland. An illuminating, if unflattering, account of 16th-century Ireland.
Full text (in translation) is available here: https://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T10...