There happened in the borough of Cloera, one Sunday, while the people were at Mass, a marvel. In this town is a church dedicated to St. Kinarus.
It befell that an anchor was dropped from the sky, with a rope attached to it, and one of the flukes caught in the arch above the church door. The people rushed out of the church and saw in the sky a ship with men on board, floating before the anchor cable, and they saw a man leap overboard and jump down to the anchor, as if to release it. He looked as if he were swimming in water.
The folk rushed up and tried to seize him; but the Bishop forbade the people to hold the man, for it might kill him, he said. The man was freed, and hurried up to the ship, where the crew cut the rope and the ship sailed out of sight. But the anchor is in the church, and has been there ever since, as a testimony.
The area in question appears to correspond to Crossderry, County Clare, West of Limerick in Ireland. Today it's a rural area, off the beaten path. It was recorded initially in the Speculum Regali, and later chronicled by Gervase of Tilbury. Tilbury seems as close to an educated person as was available in those days.
I wonder, what exactly did they see? At first blush, I'd be tempted to write this off as pure myth, or folklore, perhaps with a religious bent. But a similar story comes out of the Monastery of Clonmacnoise, further North in County Offaly:
The annals say: when the monks of Clonmacnoise
Were all at prayers inside the oratory
A ship appeared above them in the air.
The anchor dragged along behind so deep
It hooked itself into the altar rails
And then, as the big hull rocked to a standstill,
A crewman shinned and grappled down the rope
And struggled to release it. But in vain.
‘This man can’t bear our life here and will drown,’
The abbot said, ‘Unless we help him.’ So
They did, the freed ship sailed, and the man climbed back
Out of the marvelous as he had known it.
Any thoughts on the matter?
One final thing, which may be relevant or simply a coincidence. I couldn't find any mention of a St. Kinarus. The closest I found appears to be St. Karas. And he was an Anchorite. Just grasping at straws with that one.
