2011:140 - . RUTLAND ISLAND WRECK, BURTONPORT HARBOUR, Donegal

The Underwater Archaeology Unit of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht continued its work on the site known as the Rutland Island Wreck in August 2011. The wreck was discovered in 2009 by local divers in the shallows of Rutland Harbour, near Burtonport. The UAU first investigated the site in early 2010 following the report of its discovery, with two small test trenches being opened at the bow and stern areas to define its nature and extent and to determine a possible date (Excavations 2010, no. 181). Further, more extensive excavation was carried out in 2011, with funding being made available by Minister Jimmy Deenihan TD. Results to date suggest that this may be a late 16th-century or early 17th-century wreck, with a possibility that it could be associated with the ill-fated Spanish Armada campaign. It was thus decided in 2011 that the site warranted further, more intensive survey and investigation, both to recover the portable artefactual material contained within the wreck itself and to record the wreck structure, which for now will be preserved in situ.

The broadening of the scope of the work necessitated the use of a large vessel and more equipment. The Department was thus joined on site by the two survey vessels and crew of the Geological Survey of Ireland/INFOMAR, who provided the logistical needs for the project with regard to a suitable dive platform and survey boat. The RV Keary was made available as the dive platform for the duration of the project, and its support vessel, the RV Geo, undertook marine geophysical survey and seabed-mapping of the wreck site. The National Museum of Ireland came on board to take responsibility for the conservation of the artefacts that have been recovered to date from the wreck. The project is thus very much a collaborative one. The UAU continued to liaise closely with the local divers who discovered the wreck and they are keeping a watching brief on the wreck site throughout the year.

The wreck is located approximately 100m off the south-east shore of Rutland Island and immediately adjacent to the old navigation channel. The site lies at a depth ranging between 3m at the stern end and 5m at the bow at high water and is aligned east–west, with the bow to the west. Approximately 20m of the lower, well-preserved wooden hull remains intact, and the wreck lies on its very lower starboard section, with the port side elevated. The starboard is extant right up to the beginning of the orlop deck timbers, including hanging knees and floor planking. The rudder mechanism is also present, extending from the stern, with pintel marks and gudgeons still in place at its lower level. A scatter of red brick across the bow section is indicative of collapse over time from the galley above. Two lead scuppers were also recovered at the bow as evidence of the ship’s drainage system.

Finds from the wreck site in 2010 included pottery of possible Iberian origin, porcelain fragments and an intact tripod pipkin. Other finds included cannon-balls, lead musket- and arquebus-shot, a buckle and a button from a uniform, the remains of a barrel, a wooden box and material stored in the hold to be used for wickerwork or wattling. The presence of munitions suggested that this was an armed ship; flattened musket-balls indicate that it was involved in engagement at some point, but whether that led to its wrecking is not determinable. The broken nature of the bow section suggests that the ship ran bow first into the sandbank at Rutland Island, but why this occurred is open to discussion and further interpretation as the investigation at the wreck site continues.

The 2011 season on the site saw more extensive excavation, particularly of the stern section, where nearly half the internal space of the wreck was excavated. The depth of hold at the stern proved deeper than expected, with a depth of over 1m of seabed material filling the inner hull. When removed, the internal hull was revealed as being built of heavy oak timbers, with a substantial part of the stern assembly present, including the lower transom timbers, transom knees, first and second futtocks, external stern-post and lower rudder attachment. Also present in this area are the remains of the lower part of the orlop or first deck, with hanging knees and ceiling planking present; this provided some very good constructional details, including scarf jointing and carpentry marks.

Seabed-mapping carried out by the GSI shows that the wreck lies in a scour pit, most pronounced at the bow end. Having listed to starboard, smaller material within the hold seems to have fallen across the lower hull, and material from the decks above fell down into the hold over time as the wreck deteriorated or during the course of salvage over the centuries. This resulted in much of the material coming to rest in the spaces between the framing timbers, and many of the finds from 2011 were recovered from these hold spaces. Artefacts from 2011 include barrel hoops, pottery fragments, a decorated spiral stone object, more musket- and arquebus-balls, well-preserved rope, a musketeer’s leather bandolier and an intact wooden bowl. Having come to rest on its starboard side, the ship would have spilled its contents to the north of the site and would have collapsed in this direction over time. That being said, cannon-balls and two silver cob coins were recovered from the southern area outside the wreck site in 2011. Neither of the coins produced a date, but it is obvious that material has been spread around the site outside the wreck itself over time.

Analysis of the artefacts is ongoing, as is species and dendrochronological study of the wreck timbers. The UAU is scheduled to return to the site in 2012 to carry out further excavation and survey, with the Department again collaborating with the National Museum of Ireland, the Geological Survey of Ireland/INFOMAR and the local divers in Burtonport on work at the wreck site.

No. 140. Rutland Island Wreck, Burtonport Harbour: recording the Rutland Island Wreck in 2011 (image: C. Kelleher, UAU).