Within the walls, at Derry/Londonderry, the Tower Museum tells the history of the town — including the era of the Plantation — and shelters an exceptional collection of Spanish Armada objects, from the wreck of La Trinidad Valencera. Two windows on the Renaissance of Ulster: the colonisation and the great fear of 1588.
The history of Derry and the Plantation
The Tower Museum, opened in 1992, offers a permanent exhibition, 'The Story of Derry', which retraces the town's history through the ages — and notably the era of the Plantation, that founding moment when Derry became 'Londonderry', the fortified town of the English and Scottish colonists. The museum thus helps to understand the context of the nearby walls and St Columb's Cathedral: the birth of a planned colony town, one of the great projects of the Plantation of Ulster.
The treasure of La Trinidad Valencera
The other great attraction of the Tower Museum is its exhibition 'An Armada Shipwreck', devoted to La Trinidad Valencera — one of the largest ships of the Spanish Armada of 1588. After the rout of the Armada, this vessel, forced to go round Ireland to return home, sank in Kinnagoe Bay (Donegal). Its cargo, found by underwater archaeologists, feeds a collection of first importance: cannon, pottery, pewter, textiles, objects of shipboard life — an exceptional material set on the navy and culture of the late sixteenth century. The museum thus links Derry to one of the major events of Elizabeth I's reign. To see: the objects of La Trinidad Valencera (cannon, pottery, pewter, textiles), the model/account of the wreck, the 'Story of Derry' section (Plantation), the tower within the walls itself. (NB: check the availability of the collection, a transfer having been announced.)
Did you know?
The Spanish Armada of 1588 claimed more victims on the coasts of Ireland than in the fighting against the English fleet: forced to flee north after their failure in the Channel, dozens of Spanish ships were wrecked along the Irish coasts, battered by the autumn storms. La Trinidad Valencera, wrecked in Donegal, was one of them. Its objects, kept at Derry, are thus the relics of a maritime disaster that sealed, as much as the English cannon, the defeat of the greatest fleet of the Renaissance.
Notes
The Tower Museum lies on Union Hall Place, within the walls, Derry/Londonderry, County Londonderry; a museum open to the public. GPS to confirm; the opening status of the Armada collection to check. Hours to check.
Quiz
- What does the 'Story of Derry' exhibition tell?
- The town's history, including the era of the Plantation
- The Roman conquest
- The Viking era only
- Which Armada ship does the museum highlight?
- La Trinidad Valencera (wrecked 1588)
- The Mary Rose
- The Great Michael
- Where did La Trinidad Valencera sink?
- In Kinnagoe Bay (Donegal)
- In the Channel
- In the Mediterranean