Spanish Armada in Ireland with the loss of about 6,000 men. By the end of September 1588 Fitzwilliam was able to report to the Queen's secretary, Lord Burghley, that the Armada alarm was over. Soon after, he reckoned that only about 100 survivors remained in the country. In 1596, an envoy of Philip II arrived in Ireland to make inquiries of survivors and was successful in only eight cases. Following the defeat of the Armada the English sent their own fleet against the Iberian peninsula, but failed to press home their advantage and returned with similar losses. At the height of the Anglo-Spanish War
The Armada Service was valued at "about £100,000" on the BBC One television show "Antiques Roadshow", by Alastair Dickenson, the programme’s silver expert. At an auction at Lawrence's of Crewkerne in Somerset, Dickenson acquired for a client two related pieces for £135,000, which had been exported to the southern United States before being repatriated to England. The present location of these "three" (sic) pieces is unknown. Armada Dishes in Sterling Silver The Armada Service The Armada Service ("alias" Tudor Service) is a set of more than 31 gilded silver dishes, dated between 1581 and 1601, formerly owned by Sir Christopher Harris (c. 1553–1625),