Butter Boat sank on December 12, 1770. In the tragic incident, as many as 20 people lost their lives. The skeletal remains of the butter boat were spotted during the low tide. Initially, the popular belief was that the boat was part of the 16th century Spanish Armada story. However, this theory has been ruled out by Ireland's National Monuments Service and the actual identity of the ship has been discovered. The remains of the big vessel have also become a popular landmark and a tourist spot in the area.
On December 12, Saturday, a ceremony on Streedagh Strand was organised to pay tributes to those who had lost their lives in the tragic incident. The tributes were paid by the members of the National Monuments team who uncovered the real identity of the ship after 250 years. Many locals also joined the event. According to a report published in the Mirror, Malcolm Noonan, Minister of State for heritage at the Department of Housing lauded the team for managing to uncover the entire story of the event and series of things that led to it. The minister also mentioned that with this discovery there will be a lot of clarity that the people will get and this will also add purpose to the scientific data that is available on the incident.
According to the report, the samples that the researchers collected, the boat was most certainly constructed in the 18th century. If the experts are to be believed then the huge vessel was made sometime after 1712. The samples also suggest that there is a possibility that the Timber used in the vessel was sourced from English Midlands.
Moreover, in-depth research about 18th-century vessel got experts to the conclusion that the Butter Boat is actually something called the Greyhound.
The Greyhound was basically a coastal trading ship. This was owned by someone called Mrs Alley. The ship was based out of Whitby port in Yorkshire in England
The tragic incident occurred when the ship was caught in a storm off the coast of Mayo. Since the big vessel could manage to get a safe harbour in Broadhaven Bay, it had to be driven to anchor in a perilous position beneath the towering cliffs off Erris Head. Due to this, the crew of the ship had to abandon it.
However, the crew missed the fact that a cabin boy was left onboard. So, in order to rescue him some crew members, some locals and a few crew members of passing by ship had to board the Greyhound. They were all successful in getting to the big vessel. But as they made attempts to move the ship away from the cliff the ship had been driven out because of the force of the sea. Till this time, the rescue team and the cabin boy were still on board. From the entire incident, only one person named Williams from Erris could manage to survive.