Celebration of Armada diver Archie Jack to be held at his beloved Kinnagoe

A celebration of the life of Archie Jack is to be held at Kinnagoe Bay, the Inishowen beach where he discovered the wreck of the Spanish Armada vessel La Trinidad Valencera in 1971.
His discovery of a cannon from the ship, which was wrecked on the beach in September 1588, came after the divers from the City of Derry Sub Aqua Club had been searching since 1968. Over the following ten years or more, the wreck was excavated and the materials which the divers found are now on display in the Tower Museum in Derry and the Ulster Museum, Belfast.
Tributes have been paid to Mr Jack who continued to be a regular visitor to the beach after the dives on the wreck stopped and he would spend weeks at a time in the summer months camping there. During his stays, he swam every day, displayed sea shells and finds from the wreck and chatted to locals and visitors.
The funeral of Mr Jack, who died at the age of 84, took place in his native Strabane on Thursday. Friends say he died in his sleep in his tent in Kinnagoe on Sunday night. Locals and visitors to the beach have been leaving floral tributes to him at the tent.

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The celebration of Mr Jack’s life is taking place at the car park at Kinnagoe Bay this coming Monday at 7.30pm.
Chris Wolfe, a friend of Mr Jack’s who is organising the event on Monday, said it was his wish to die in his sleep at Kinnego. Such was his love of his beach, he celebrated his honeymoon there, had his 80th birthday there and named two of his children after the Spanish Armada vessel.
“He always said he would love to die there in his sleep, and he got his wish,” he said.
“We want anyone who knows him to come [on Monday night]. We are hoping just to have a night of reflection about what he meant to the community. Thousands of people knew him, and we want to have one last hurrah before we take his tent down.”
His annual presence at the beach became a focus for céile nights, songs and the reminiscence of times, people and skills gone by, one local said.
“When he came here in the summer we knew summer had started. He became a neighbour and friend to all the locals.”

Floral tributes have been left at Archie Jack’s tent at Kinnagoe Bay

Journalist and author Kathy Donaghy, who got to know Mr Jack on her regular visits to Kinnagoe, said he had a passion for the bay.
“It occupied such a place in his heart and his imagination that he wanted to be there as much as he could. He had a group of friends that would come and visit him and they had coffee with him and he would tell stories about the dive. He wanted to share the knowledge of the dive and that time of his life. He was just so proud of that place and proud to be part of the legacy of the place. He had a sheer love of the place and a sheer love of telling the stories of that grand adventure he had 50 years ago.”
Greencastle Maritime Museum paid tribute to him in a social media post: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Archie Jack, one of the discovery divers of La Trinidad Valencera. We had the privilege of getting to know him over recent years and especially during the 50th anniversary celebrations of the discovery of La Trinidad Valencera. Last year we brought a group to visit Archie at Kinnagoe and they had the opportunity to hear his story.”