Greyhound was a coastal trading vessel launched in Whitby in 1747 or possibly before that was wrecked in a storm off the coast of County Sligo on 12 December 1770.[2]Lloyd's List reported on 1 January 1771 that Greyhound, Douthard, master, had been lost at Sligo while on the way from Galway to Whitby.[3]
The wreck has been known locally as The butter boat.[2]
Vessel
Greyhound was owned by a Mrs Alley in 1747 and was a transport in 1748.[1][4][5][6]
Wreck
Greyhound had been caught in a storm off the coast of County Mayo.[2] The crew could not get shelter in Broadhaven Bay and were forced to anchor near Erris Head.[2] The crew abandoned ship, then realised they had forgotten the cabin boy.[2] Some of the crew, along with volunteers and crew of a passing ship Mary, from Galway, returned to rescue him and managed to get aboard Greyhound.[2] The storm was so bad that the vessel was driven ashore at Streedagh Ppoint, where 20 of the 21 on board drowned.[2] The sole survivor had stayed on board and when the vessel settled on the beach he alerted people, but the others had already been lost.[2]
Speculation on identity
Over time, the identity of the wreck had been lost, leading to speculation that it might have been part of The Spanish Armada, or a tourist boat.[2]
Identification
Oak timbers from the wreck were dated to some time after 1712 in the first half of the 18th century by dendrochronologist Dr. Aoife Daly.[2][7] The National Monuments Service said that the timber was probably sourced from the English midlands or Yorkshire.[7] This was cross-referenced to a database of over a hundred shipwrecks off the Sligo coast in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Irish Folklore Commission, and newspaper accounts, leading to the vessel being identified.[2]
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