Planks from Britain's first warship which was built during the reign of Henry VIII and sank off the south coast of England in 1545 have been discovered in Foynes Port, Co Limerick.
The remarkable find of three timbers from the Marie Rose was made by an Irish archaeologist late last year on the deck of a dredging machine which was about to be used in Foynes.
According to a report in the current issue of Archaeology Ireland, the dredger, the Medway II, had been working in the Solent area, off the south coast of England, close to where the Marie Rose wreck was found. It had been moved to Foynes to carry out work on the harbour there.
Archaeologist Mr Donal Boland saw the strange timbers lying on the deck of the dredger before it began operations in Foynes, and inquired where they had come from.
The crew told him that the dredger had been working near where the Mary Rose had sunk after her cannons slipped and she heeled over during a confrontation with an invading force from France.
During the operations there, the dredge-head had become blocked and it was lifted out of the water.
Three large planks were found to have blocked it, and these were removed and left on the deck.
Dúchas had recommended that full-time archaeological monitoring take place aboard the dredger during the Foynes operation. Mr Boland recognised that the planks were of archaeological significance, and reported the matter to Dúchas's Underwater Archaeology Unit in Dublin.
The three timbers were identified as floor pieces which would have spanned part of the bottom of the ship, and they still held the timber nails which would have been used to secure them to the keel of the vessel.
They are being held in Dublin, awaiting transfer to the Mary Rose Trust in Britain, which is involved in restoring the vessel.