What happened to the Spanish military force in Ireland when Drake returned to England in 1580?
When Francis Drake sailed back to England after his circumnavigation, a Spanish invasion force was still active in Ireland, accompanied by Catholic priests including two Jesuits operating inside England. By November 1580, however, that Spanish task force had been completely crushed and wiped out at Smerwick — a defeat that significantly strengthened Elizabeth I's hand in her tense standoff with the Spanish ambassador, Bernardino de Mendoza.
The episode places this Irish episode within a broader picture of escalating Catholic pressure on Elizabethan England. The presence of Jesuit missionaries on English soil and a foreign military force in Ireland represented two simultaneous fronts of the same campaign — one spiritual, one military. The destruction at Smerwick closed one of those fronts decisively, removing a tangible symbol of Spanish military reach on the British Isles and handing Elizabeth I a concrete victory at a moment when she badly needed diplomatic leverage.
"A war is easily begun, but not so soon ended."
— Cited in The Rest Is History, Episode 694: Elizabeth I vs The Catholics: A Treacherous Conspiracy (Part 4)The broader context matters: January 1580 had seen Philip II of Spain become king of Portugal as well, uniting the entire Iberian Peninsula and both overseas empires under a single crown. That consolidation made Spain's reach — and its ability to project military force into Ireland or the Low Countries — far more formidable. The wiping out of the Smerwick force was therefore not just a battlefield outcome; it was a moment of geopolitical relief for a queen whose Protestant England was increasingly encircled. You can hear Tom Holland unpack each layer of this confrontation in full on The Rest Is History on Listenly.
See also
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