The Ship in the Sky over Clonmacnoise
Irish chronicles tell of a ship sailing through the sky over a monastery, whose anchor caught on the church. A sailor climbed down the rope.
What was reported
Medieval Irish annals and later writings tell a strange story set at the monastery of Clonmacnoise, on the River Shannon. During a gathering, a ship appeared sailing in the air, and its anchor caught on the church door, or on the altar rail.
A sailor climbed down the rope to free it, and the monks seized him. He cried out that he was drowning, and the abbot told them to let him go. He climbed back up, the anchor was freed and the ship sailed away.
Explanations offered
Historians see it as a wonder tale, perhaps a story about the boundary between this world and the otherworld, found in several medieval Irish and English sources. Some writers have read it as an early UFO sighting. The ruins of Clonmacnoise are still visited today.
- When
- 8th century
- Where
- Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, Ireland
- Witnesses
- Monks, as recorded in Irish annals
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.