The mystery of a 250 year old shipwreck in Sligo has finally been solved by historians on the anniversary of the week it sank.

Known locally as the Butter Boat, the skeletal remains of a wooden wreck on Streedagh Strand only appear when sands shift.

Historians from the National Monuments Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage have found that they are the remains of a ship named Greyhound, which sailed out of Whitby port in Yorkshire in England in the 1700s.

They have also revealed the full tragic story of how it became ship wrecked on the night of December 12 1770, where 20 people died.

On that night 250 years ago, a storm raged in the seas and unable to harbour at Broadhaven Bay, the Greyhound was forced to anchor in a dangerous position underneath the cliffs off Erris Head in County Mayo.

The crew was forced to abandon ship and, in a tragic oversight, a cabin boy was left on board.

After learning that the cabin boy was left on board, local volunteers from Broadhaven Bay got together with the crew of a passing ship from Galway and some of the original crew of the Greyhound and attempted to rescue the boy and the ship.         

While the rescue team did manage to board the Greyhound and move the vessel away from the cliffs, the Greyhound was driven further out to sea by the force of the storm with some of the volunteer crew still on board, as well as the cabin boy.

Later that night, the ship was wrecked at Streedagh Strand, with the loss of 20 lives.

On Saturday night, locals at Streedagh Strand, as well as religious leaders and members of the National Monuments team that solved the mystery paid tribute to those lost at sea, and laid a wreath on the wreck, remembering its known dead for the first time on what was its exact 250th anniversary.

Researchers used historical accounts in 18th century accounts from the Freeman’s Journal to uncover the story of the vessel, which is now known to be the Greyhound.

The Greyhound was a coastal ship from Whitby in Yorkshire, built in 1747, which traded around Britain and Ireland.