Spanish Armada in Ireland Spanish Armada in Ireland The Spanish Armada in Ireland refers to the landfall made upon the coast of Ireland in September 1588 of a large portion of the 130-strong fleet sent by Philip II to invade England. Following its defeat at the naval battle of Gravelines the Armada had attempted to return home through the North Atlantic, when it was driven from its course by violent storms, toward the west coast of Ireland. The prospect of a Spanish landing alarmed the Dublin government of Queen Elizabeth I, which prescribed harsh measures for the Spanish invaders and any Irish who might
Spanish Armada winds, and they were scattered". There were also more lighthearted medals struck, such as the one with the play on the words of Julius Caesar: "Venit, Vidit, Fugit" ("he came, he saw, he fled"). The victory was acclaimed by the English as their greatest since Agincourt. The memory of the victory over the Armada was evoked during both the Napoleonic Wars and the Second World War, when Britain again faced a substantial danger of foreign invasion. The Armada Memorial in Plymouth was constructed in 1888 to celebrate the tercentenary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Knerr (1989) has reviewed