17/06/2026
Wee Yarn … The Spanish Armada Has Finally Landed in Warrenpoint .
For thousands of years the peoples of Carlingford Lough have watched visitors arrive.
Saint Patrick came.
The Vikings came.
The Normans came.
Merchants came.
Smugglers came.
Tax collectors came.
Most of them eventually regretted it.
But this week something even more unexpected appeared in the harbour.
A full-size 17th-century Spanish galleon sailed into Warrenpoint Harbour.
Well… nearly.
The Galeón Andalucía has crossed oceans, weathered Atlantic storms, visited ports across Europe, survived the Bay of Biscay, dodged modern shipping lanes & carried the proud traditions of Spain halfway around the world.
Only to discover that the real test of seamanship was finding somewhere to park in Warrenpoint.
The crew arrived expecting pirates, privateers & sea rogues.
Instead they encountered me & max , dog walkers, cyclists, fishermen, three amateur historians, two retired geography teachers, a man who claims he’s related to Saint Patrick, & somebody asking if the ship could be converted into apartments.
Opinions remain divided.
The Spanish sailors of old crossed oceans guided by stars.
Today they are possibly guided by Facebook comments.
Back in the 1600s a green harbour light meant safe passage.
In modern Warrenpoint it means six men
As darkness falls the great ship sits beneath the shadow of the Cooley Mountains, her towering masts rising above the marina like a ghost from another age.
She looks almost real enough to sail.
You half expect a lantern to appear on deck.
A sailor to shout from the rigging.
Or a weary captain to ask:
“Excuse me, where might we find the nearest early house Warrenpoint was once known for?”
To which every local would naturally reply:
“Straight ahead now. You can’t miss it. If you reach the fist & last you’ve gone too far.”
The captain would then ask where the nearest railway station is.
At which point every person on the harbour would launch into a forty-minute discussion about parking, commuters, economic development, why nobody works in Newry anymore, whose fault it is, & how forty extra spaces will apparently solve everything by 2028.
The Spanish Armada never had problems quite like that.
The Galeón Andalucía remains in Warrenpoint until 21st June.
A worthy sight.
A remarkable sight.
A beautiful sight.
And living proof that after four hundred years the Spanish have finally arrived in Warrenpoint…
Just in time to discover they’re too late for the early house.
⚓ Bienvenidos a Warrenpoint, Captain.
May your anchor hold.
