Discovered wreck may have been first ship to bring coconuts to Ireland

A merchant ship that sank in the 1600s, and which has been discovered off the West Cork coast, could have brought the first coconuts to Ireland.

The Irish Examiner has learnt that marine archaeologists were called to an area near Schull after the remains of the vessel were found in recent days close to shore and embedded in silt in about 30ft of water.

It’s understood the wreck was spotted in the seabed by workers who were laying underwater ‘outflow’ pipes for the new multimillion-euro Schull waste water treatment plant. Marine archaeologists were called in and a diving exclusion zone had been put in place to protect it from looters.