New digital Armada play brings Cuéllar’s survival story to life

A new digital audio play exploring the extraordinary survival story of Spanish Armada sailor Francisco de Cuéllar was streamed earlier this month on the Spanish Armada Ireland Grange Facebook page.

Titled Francisco de Cuéllar – Lost Sailor of the Armada, the production was written by local historian and enthusiast Eddie O’Gorman and is based on Cuéllar’s own first-hand account of being shipwrecked at Streedagh Beach, Co Sligo, in September 1588.

Speaking about the project, Eddie said the play was rooted directly in Cuéllar’s own words.

“The Carta — is Cuéllar’s original account of his time in Ireland. It’s his voice, his fear, his desperation. I wanted to honour that and let the story speak for itself.”

Cuéllar wrote the account after escaping Ireland and reaching Antwerp, where he feared he would face court-martial on his return to Spain.

“When he arrived in Ireland, he was under sentence of death,” Eddie explained. “This letter was effectively his first line of defence — a way of explaining how he survived when so many others didn’t.”

The digital audio play brings to life many of the key figures mentioned in the letter, including Irish chieftain Tadhg Óg McClancy, Spanish Admiral Francisco de Bobadilla, and Cuéllar himself, as he fled capture across the northwest of Ireland during a period of violent storms and political upheaval.

“He had no English, and the people here were speaking Irish,” Eddie said. “Communication was incredibly difficult. But he was an educated man, he had Latin, and when you’re fleeing death, you learn very quickly through gesture, instinct and survival.”

The cast features Eddie O’Gorman as narrator, Juan Manuel Espinosa in the title role of Francisco de Cuéllar, Prannie Rhatigan in several female roles, Séamus Connolly as McClancy and other characters, and Felip Carbonell as Admiral Bobadilla and fellow Spanish sailors.

Recorded at The Model in Sligo, the production was supported by Sligo County Council through Creative Ireland funding.

Eddie said the project was part of a wider effort to ensure the Armada story — and its deep connections to Sligo and Leitrim — continues to be shared.

“This is not just a Spanish story or an Irish story — it’s a European story,” he said. “More Armada ships were lost on the Irish coast than were destroyed by the English navy. That’s something people are only beginning to understand.”

He added that the response to the play has been deeply encouraging.

“What really strikes Spanish audiences is that Ireland remembers these men,” he said. “Thousands of sailors died on a strange shore, and for centuries they were forgotten. Now their story is being told again.”

A recording of Francisco de Cuéllar – Lost Sailor of the Armada is available via the Spanish Armada Ireland can be watch here 

The historical significance of Cuéllar’s account is explored in depth by Dr Francis Kelly, author of Captain Francisco de Cuéllar: The Armada, Ireland, and the Wars of the Spanish Monarchy, 1578–1606.

Dr Kelly said Cuéllar’s survival was remarkable even before his shipwreck.

“He was an officer in disgrace,” Kelly explained. “After the battle off Calais there was what the Spanish command regarded as a major breach of discipline, and Cuéllar was one of the captains initially sentenced to death. He was stripped of his command and remained under court-martial.”

Kelly said Cuéllar’s written account stands out as one of the most vivid personal narratives to survive from the Armada.

“He spent seven months in Ireland, much of that time in north Leitrim with O’Rourke and the McClancys at Rosclogher on Lough Melvin. The bulk of his account is set here, and that’s why Ireland is central to understanding his survival — not just as a backdrop, but as an active part of the story.”