Iconic Armada diver bows out on beach

A STRABANE man, whose name has surely been etched in Ireland’s maritime history books, passed away last week at the age of 84.

Archie Jack, who in 1971 became the first person to find evidence of a Spanish Armada shipwreck off Kinnagoe Bay, Donegal, is known as a legend along Ireland’s Atlantic coastline.

A celebration of his life began on Monday at Kinnagoe Bay – the Inishowen beach where in the early 1970s the distinguished diver became the first person to discover evidence of the sunken Spanish Armada vessel, La Trinidad Valencera.

Mr Jack’s discovery – which occurred when in 1971 he came upon a rusty cannon lodged in the Atlantic floor – arrived nine years after divers from the City of Derry Sub Aqua Club began searching the waters in 1968.

Over the next decade, the decaying carcass of the 16th century ship was searched incessantly, and its materials, which had been submerged since September 1588, were salvaged and are now on display in the Tower Museum, Derry and the Ulster Museum, Belfast.

After his historic dive, Mr Jack continued to return to the beach at Kinnagoe Bay, pitching his iconic tent in the sand every summer, and spending his time swimming, collecting shells and chatting with locals and visitors.

Fittingly, since his passing, tributes, mainly in the form of flowers and cards, have been laid at his tent, where he is said by his family to have died peacefully last week.

Last Thursday the octogenarian’s funeral took place in his native Strabane.

Four days later, on Monday, a celebration of his life took place at Kinnagoe Bay.

A close friend of Mr Jack’s, Chris Wolfe, who attended the celebrations on Monday night, told the Strabane Chronicle that it was his friend’s wish to die in his sleep at Kinnagoe Bay.

“He always said he would love to die there in his sleep, and he got his wish,” said Mr Wolfe.

“It was great on Monday night to have a final evening to reflect on what Archie meant to the community here around Kinnagoe Bay.

“Thousands of people knew him,” said Mr Wolfe.

“And we wanted to have one last hurrah before we took his tent down.”

Kinnagoe Bay will now forever be associated with the great Strabane man, as the place where not only did he make his historic Armada dive in 1971, but as the destination where he celebrated his honeymoon, his 80th birthday, and, eventually, in August of 2023, left this world behind.