26th November, 2019
Brothers
Owen Kerrigan – the cantankerous lighthouse keeper of a remote Irish island has been estranged from his only brother Patrick for most of his adult life. His only solace has come from immersing himself in the legend of a long lost treasure belonging to the wreck of a Spanish Armada galleon that is rumored to be hidden beneath his light.
But after tunneling in vain for years, Owen is issued with a sudden eviction notice. In desperation, with only days left to find the gold, Owen begrudgingly asks his brother for help. Hoping it may help to rebuild their relationship after more than thirty years of silence, Patrick reluctantly agrees.
As they attempt to unearth the fortune, Owen becomes increasingly drawn to Ellen, an enchanting descendant of the Pirate Queen – Grace O’Malley, who ruled the island at the time of the Armada.
As Owen’s imminent eviction looms, they race to solve the riddles ingrained in the ancient folklore of the island and realize that Ellen may unwittingly hold a vital clue to finding the treasure. But the rift which kept the brothers apart for so long threatens to thwart both Patrick’s hopes of reconciliation and Owen’s dream of finding the fabled hoard.
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History & Mystery
The History
In September 1588, 24 galleons of the Spanish Armada fleet were wrecked on the Irish coastline. A number of them were believed to carry treasure chests to be used as a bounty for safe passage home, in case of capture.
Queen Elizabeth I promised harsh penalties for anyone assisting the shipwrecked Spaniards but after years of rivalry, the ruler of the west coast of Ireland -- Grace O’Malley, nicknamed The Pirate Queen for her systematic plundering of English merchant ships, had no allegiance to the throne of England.
When the El Gran Grin wrecked on the coastline of Grace’s stronghold – Clare Island, the offer of gold in exchange for safe passage would have been a tempting proposition and reports of 100 Spaniards killed by the O’Malley’s are thought to have been a ruse to smuggle them to safety in Scotland.
The Mystery
Over 400 years later the lure of missing Armada ships laden with gold and riches still captures the imagination of would be treasure hunters. The 13th Duke of Argyll, Sir Torquhil Ian Campbell, was certainly convinced that a wrecked Armada galleon on the Scottish coast held a valuable secret and brought in a team of divers to survey the waters off the Isle of Mull in 2008 for the remains of the Spanish galleon Almirante di Florencia; believed to have been carrying £30 million of gold.
The wreck of the El Gran Grin has never been recovered, nor any treasure that it may have carried been found... yet...