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Two ships were to carry the pilgrims to the New World, the Mayflower and the Speedwell. Two ships would carry the Pilgrims to the New World, the Mayflower and the Speedwell. If you’ve never heard of the Speedwell, that’s because the ill-fated vessel was abandoned after two attempts heading to sea. The Speedwell was a pine-hulled, square-sterner built in England in 1577 as the light warship, Swiftsure. She participated in the battle of the Spanish Armada, and later sailed as an exploration vessel to the Azores. After her decommissioning, she was renamed Speedwell.

Spain led the Holy League to defeat the Ottoman Turkish Navy at the Battle of Lepanto near Corinth, Greece, in 1571. Hilaire Belloc wrote in The Great Heresies (1938): "This violent Mohammedan pressure on Christendom from the East made a bid for success by sea as well as by land. ... The last great Turkish organization working now from the conquered capital of Constantinople, proposed to cross the Adriatic, to attack Italy by sea and ultimately to recover all that had been lost in the Western Mediterranean. ... There was one critical moment when it looked as though the scheme...

Virginia Dare was born on August 18, 1587 at Roanoke Island in colonial Virginia (present-day North Carolina). Virginia Dare was the first English-born child in the Americas. She was the daughter of Ananias Dare and Eleanor Dare and the granddaughter of Governor John White. Ananias Dare served on the twelve-member board of directors for the Roanoke Colony. Virginia’s mother Eleanor was the daughter of Governor John White. The name Virginia was chosen to signify that she was the first English child born in Virginia. She was baptized into the Church of England on August 24, 1587 and was the first...

Elizabeth I- Born: 7 September 1533 - Birthplace: Greenwich, England - Died: 24 March 1603 Best Known As: "The Virgin Queen" of England, 1558-1603 The daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth succeeded Mary I in 1558. Dedicated to her position as ruler, Elizabeth fought off rivals (such as heir to the throne Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned for 19 years and executed in 1587) and expanded England's power overseas, eventually succeeding in defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588. Her nearly 45-year reign is considered one of England's high points: it featured luminaries such as Sir Walter Raleigh,...

Storms off the west coast of Ireland have disturbed the seabed to reveal two 16th century cannons wrecked from the Spanish Armada. The cannons were brought to the surface this week by underwater archaeologists and are said to be in "extraordinarily good condition". They are thought to come from the wreck of the merchant vessel La Juliana, which sank in storms off Stredagh, Co Sligo on Ireland’s west coast in September 1588 along with two others,La Lavia and Santa Maria de Vision. The artifacts were recovered by the Underwater Archaeology Unit of Ireland’s Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht. One...

credit: Heather Humphries (Twitter feed)

The wreckage of a sunken vessel believed to be from the Spanish Armada has been discovered off the Donegal coast... in shallow waters in Rutland Harbour, near Burtonport. Evidence uncovered during a dive survey revealed the vessel was likely to be a 16th-century ship, possibly part of the 1588 Spanish Armada. Heritage minister Jimmy Deenihan... said the discovery was a major find of significance not only to Ireland but also to the international archaeological, historical and maritime communities. "If, in fact, it proves to be an Armada vessel, it could constitute one of the most intact of these wrecks discovered...

I have been talking to my Mother, Thanks Blam, about getting a DNA test to deturmine heritige. AB Negitive is a rare blood type in Ireland, less than 1%. I have been wondering about the distribution of this Blood Type among people descended from those who emmigrated from Northern Ireland. My Mother is Black Irish, Not Protestant, Black Hair, Dark Brown Eyes, Olive Skin, not your normal Harp. My Nana said it was the milk man, not likely!