Irish settlement in Argentina
Encyclopedia
Irish settlement in Argentina is part of the story of immigration in Argentina and the Irish diaspora
. Irish
emigrants
from the Midlands, Wexford and many counties of Ireland
arrived in Argentina
mainly from 1830 to 1930, with the largest wave taking place in 1850-1870. The modern Irish-Argentine community is composed of some of their descendants, and the total number is estimated at 500,000-1,000,000. Argentina is the home of the fifth largest Irish community in the world.
Most of those who left Ireland arrived in Buenos Aires
attracted by the possibility of better living conditions, as the economic, social and political conditions
in Ireland at the time were quite poor, though the emigrants came from counties and social segments where the economic conditions were not the worst (Westmeath, Longford, Offaly, Wexford). Others, in turn, left after receiving favorable descriptions of the country from friends and family who had already arrived in Argentina. The real or perceived possibility to becoming landowners in the Río de la Plata
region (Argentina and Uruguay), and consequently joining an imagined South American landed gentry, was the most important factor attracting thousands of young men to the area. Others had arrived earlier as merchants, artisans and mercenaries, such as William "Guillermo" Brown
, who fought for the cause of Argentine independence
and the Argentine war against Brazil. For Irish
immigrants, the new lands of the Southern Cone
of South America
brought further interest for immigration to purchase large land tracts for bargain prices, working first as labourers, then in "halves" or "thirds" in the sheep-farming business, and finally renting and purchasing land.
One of Che Guevara
's forebears, Patrick Lynch
, was born in Galway
, Ireland, in 1715. He left for Bilbao, Spain, and traveled from there to Argentina. Francisco Lynch (Guevara's great-grandfather) was born in 1817, and Ana Lynch (his grandmother) in 1868. Her son, Ernesto Guevara Lynch (Guevara's father) was born in 1900. Guevara Lynch married Celia de la Serna y Llosa in 1927 (one of her non-lineal ancestors was José de la Serna e Hinojosa, Spanish viceroy of Peru), and they had three sons and two daughters.
Between 1822 and 1829, at least 7,160 Irish
immigrants arrived, being 1889 the peak of this migration (on 15 February of this year 1,774 people arrived on the steamer SS Dresden). Based on incomplete passenger list records, as well as on census returns (Buenos Aires 1855, national 1869 and national 1895) transcribed by Eduardo A. Coghlan (1982, 1987), researchers made elaborate calculations of the total number of immigrants. Juan Carlos Korol and Hilda Sabato estimated that the total number of Irish immigrants in the nineteenth century was between 10,500 and 11,500 (Cómo fue la inmigración irlandesa a la Argentina, 1981 p. 48). However, further research conducted by Patrick MacKenna shows that Coghlan, Korol and Sabato did not considered return migration and re-migration, which was significant after the 1880s, as well as the high mortality ratios for the Irish immigrants in certain periods before the 1869 census (e.g. during the 1868 cholera outbreak in the Buenos Aires province).
For the nineteenth century, one out of every two Irish emigrants to Argentina went back to Ireland or re-migrated to England, the United States, Australia and other destinations. MacKenna says that Korol and Sabato "greatly underestimated the number of Irish immigrants" and considers that the total number of Irish immigrants in Argentina in the nineteenth century should be estimated in between 45,000 and 50,000 (M.A. thesis at NUI Maynooth, 1992, p. 83). The neglect of Anglo-Irish, Scot-Irish and in general Protestant Irish immigration in Argentina should add further numbers, particularly in the last peak of immigration after the 1920s Anglo-Irish War of Independence. The southernmost tip of Chile and Argentina, in places like the city of Punta Arenas
and also the Falkland Islands, were other destinations for Irish and Scottish immigrants which are frequently underestimated.
Eduardo A. Coghlan reported 16,284 Irish Argentines in Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires Province
at the turn of the twentieth century. Only 4,693 of these had actually been born in Ireland, just 28.8% of the population, while another 11,591 individuals had been born in Argentina. At present, roughly 500,000 Argentines are of Irish descent.
. Those in urban areas worked as labourers, merchants, employees, artisans, teachers, professionals and, increasingly after the 1860s and especially for women, as domestic servants. The Irish in the countryside worked as rural labourers, cattle dealers, and shepherds. Those in the flourishing sheep-farming business of 1840-1890 were most likely to succeed working as shepherds and sharing a half or a third of the produce in wool and lambs. In this way, some of them managed to rent and later purchase land.
In Curumalán, Buenos Aires, and Venado Tuerto
, Santa Fe
, Eduardo Casey helped populating the agriculturally barren provinces, inviting more Irish and other immigrants to Argentina to work for him. This recommendation system was very active, and, with almost limitless amounts of land available, many Irish immigrants went on to do very well economically. This industry expanded to other places, eventually flourishing in the rest of Santa Fe, Entre Ríos
and Córdoba
.
Less fortunate Irish immigrants were recruited in the 1870s and 1880s among poor segments in Dublin, Cork and other counties, and sent as colonists to Argentina. Irish-Argentine agents hired by the Buenos Aires provincial government actively worked in Ireland and were paid by the state and the shipping companies. In 1889 the Dresden Affair occurred when agents Buckley O'Meara and John Stephen Dillon sent 1,774 emigrants in the steamer City of Dresden. Many died due to the conditions of the journey or upon arrival in Buenos Aires. About seven hundred were carried to Bahía Blanca to establish the Irish Colony of Napostá, which in a few months was a failure. The vast majority of these immigrants did not stay in the country, and struggled to go back to Ireland or re-migrated to the United States and other places.
Following the Dresden Affair, in 1889, Archbishop of Cashel, Thomas Croke
wrote:
“I most solemnly conjure my poorer countrymen, as they value their happiness hereafter, never to set foot on the Argentine Republic however tempted to do so they may be by offers of a passage or an assurance of comfortable homes.”
Irish diaspora
thumb|Night Train with Reaper by London Irish artist [[Brian Whelan]] from the book Myth of Return, 2007The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa,...
. Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
emigrants
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
from the Midlands, Wexford and many counties of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
arrived in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
mainly from 1830 to 1930, with the largest wave taking place in 1850-1870. The modern Irish-Argentine community is composed of some of their descendants, and the total number is estimated at 500,000-1,000,000. Argentina is the home of the fifth largest Irish community in the world.
Reasons for emigration
Most of those who left Ireland arrived in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
attracted by the possibility of better living conditions, as the economic, social and political conditions
Penal Laws (Ireland)
The term Penal Laws in Ireland were a series of laws imposed under English and later British rule that sought to discriminate against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters in favour of members of the established Church of Ireland....
in Ireland at the time were quite poor, though the emigrants came from counties and social segments where the economic conditions were not the worst (Westmeath, Longford, Offaly, Wexford). Others, in turn, left after receiving favorable descriptions of the country from friends and family who had already arrived in Argentina. The real or perceived possibility to becoming landowners in the Río de la Plata
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
region (Argentina and Uruguay), and consequently joining an imagined South American landed gentry, was the most important factor attracting thousands of young men to the area. Others had arrived earlier as merchants, artisans and mercenaries, such as William "Guillermo" Brown
William Brown (admiral)
Admiral William Brown was an Irish-born Argentine Admiral. Brown's victories in the Independence War, the Argentina-Brazil War, and the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata earned the respect and appreciation of the Argentine people, and today he is regarded as one of Argentina's national...
, who fought for the cause of Argentine independence
Argentine War of Independence
The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín against royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown...
and the Argentine war against Brazil. For Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
immigrants, the new lands of the Southern Cone
Southern Cone
Southern Cone is a geographic region composed of the southernmost areas of South America, south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Although geographically this includes part of Southern and Southeast of Brazil, in terms of political geography the Southern cone has traditionally comprised Argentina,...
of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
brought further interest for immigration to purchase large land tracts for bargain prices, working first as labourers, then in "halves" or "thirds" in the sheep-farming business, and finally renting and purchasing land.
One of Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
's forebears, Patrick Lynch
Patrick Lynch (Argentina)
Patrick Lynch, born 1715, was an Irish emigrant who became a significant landowner in Rio de la Plata, which is now part of Argentina. He was born in Galway and was the second son of Patrick Lynch of Lydican Castle and Agnes Blake...
, was born in Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
, Ireland, in 1715. He left for Bilbao, Spain, and traveled from there to Argentina. Francisco Lynch (Guevara's great-grandfather) was born in 1817, and Ana Lynch (his grandmother) in 1868. Her son, Ernesto Guevara Lynch (Guevara's father) was born in 1900. Guevara Lynch married Celia de la Serna y Llosa in 1927 (one of her non-lineal ancestors was José de la Serna e Hinojosa, Spanish viceroy of Peru), and they had three sons and two daughters.
Numbers of immigrants
It is difficult to accurately calculate the exact number of immigrants. Many Irish newcomers declared themselves to be ingleses, as all of Ireland at the time was still part of the United Kingdom, and others were simply assumed to be English by the authorities. The immigration records in Buenos Aires lack any entries dating from before 1822 and the years 1823, 1824, 1836, 1840, 1841, 1842 and 1855. The records in between these years are also incomplete, due to conflicts of who was Irish, English and Scottish in South American demographics.Between 1822 and 1829, at least 7,160 Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
immigrants arrived, being 1889 the peak of this migration (on 15 February of this year 1,774 people arrived on the steamer SS Dresden). Based on incomplete passenger list records, as well as on census returns (Buenos Aires 1855, national 1869 and national 1895) transcribed by Eduardo A. Coghlan (1982, 1987), researchers made elaborate calculations of the total number of immigrants. Juan Carlos Korol and Hilda Sabato estimated that the total number of Irish immigrants in the nineteenth century was between 10,500 and 11,500 (Cómo fue la inmigración irlandesa a la Argentina, 1981 p. 48). However, further research conducted by Patrick MacKenna shows that Coghlan, Korol and Sabato did not considered return migration and re-migration, which was significant after the 1880s, as well as the high mortality ratios for the Irish immigrants in certain periods before the 1869 census (e.g. during the 1868 cholera outbreak in the Buenos Aires province).
For the nineteenth century, one out of every two Irish emigrants to Argentina went back to Ireland or re-migrated to England, the United States, Australia and other destinations. MacKenna says that Korol and Sabato "greatly underestimated the number of Irish immigrants" and considers that the total number of Irish immigrants in Argentina in the nineteenth century should be estimated in between 45,000 and 50,000 (M.A. thesis at NUI Maynooth, 1992, p. 83). The neglect of Anglo-Irish, Scot-Irish and in general Protestant Irish immigration in Argentina should add further numbers, particularly in the last peak of immigration after the 1920s Anglo-Irish War of Independence. The southernmost tip of Chile and Argentina, in places like the city of Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas, Chile
Punta Arenas is a commune and the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antartica Chilena. The city was officially renamed Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to Punta Arenas...
and also the Falkland Islands, were other destinations for Irish and Scottish immigrants which are frequently underestimated.
Eduardo A. Coghlan reported 16,284 Irish Argentines in Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
at the turn of the twentieth century. Only 4,693 of these had actually been born in Ireland, just 28.8% of the population, while another 11,591 individuals had been born in Argentina. At present, roughly 500,000 Argentines are of Irish descent.
Economic activities
The Irish immigrants settled mainly in Buenos Aires city and province, and the littoral provincesMesopotamia, Argentina
La Mesopotamia, Región Mesopotámica is the humid and verdant area of north-east Argentina, comprising the provinces of Misiones, Entre Ríos and Corrientes. The region called Litoral consists of the Mesopotamia and the provinces of Chaco, Formosa and Santa Fe...
. Those in urban areas worked as labourers, merchants, employees, artisans, teachers, professionals and, increasingly after the 1860s and especially for women, as domestic servants. The Irish in the countryside worked as rural labourers, cattle dealers, and shepherds. Those in the flourishing sheep-farming business of 1840-1890 were most likely to succeed working as shepherds and sharing a half or a third of the produce in wool and lambs. In this way, some of them managed to rent and later purchase land.
In Curumalán, Buenos Aires, and Venado Tuerto
Venado Tuerto
Venado Tuerto is a city in the south-west of the , 322 km from the provincial capital. It has about 70,000 inhabitants .Venado Tuerto was founded on April 26, 1884 by Eduardo Casey, born in Lobos, Buenos Aires, in 1847. He was the son of two Irish immigrants who had amassed considerable wealth...
, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
, Eduardo Casey helped populating the agriculturally barren provinces, inviting more Irish and other immigrants to Argentina to work for him. This recommendation system was very active, and, with almost limitless amounts of land available, many Irish immigrants went on to do very well economically. This industry expanded to other places, eventually flourishing in the rest of Santa Fe, Entre Ríos
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
and Córdoba
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
.
The Dresden Affair
The Dresden Affair marked the end of mass Irish emigration to Argentina.Less fortunate Irish immigrants were recruited in the 1870s and 1880s among poor segments in Dublin, Cork and other counties, and sent as colonists to Argentina. Irish-Argentine agents hired by the Buenos Aires provincial government actively worked in Ireland and were paid by the state and the shipping companies. In 1889 the Dresden Affair occurred when agents Buckley O'Meara and John Stephen Dillon sent 1,774 emigrants in the steamer City of Dresden. Many died due to the conditions of the journey or upon arrival in Buenos Aires. About seven hundred were carried to Bahía Blanca to establish the Irish Colony of Napostá, which in a few months was a failure. The vast majority of these immigrants did not stay in the country, and struggled to go back to Ireland or re-migrated to the United States and other places.
Following the Dresden Affair, in 1889, Archbishop of Cashel, Thomas Croke
Thomas Croke
Thomas William Croke D.D. was the second Catholic Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand and later Archbishop of Cashel and Emly in Ireland...
wrote:
“I most solemnly conjure my poorer countrymen, as they value their happiness hereafter, never to set foot on the Argentine Republic however tempted to do so they may be by offers of a passage or an assurance of comfortable homes.”
Legacy
The Irish priests and nuns that arrived in Argentina did not leave any family, but they did leave a spiritual impression on the people that they served as teachers, nurses and ministers. The Irish non-Catholic priests and missionaries were also fundamental in many cases to develop new works in the poorest places of the country. Those who arrived for economic, professional or political reasons had families and their names have been handed down to this day.Notable Irish Argentines
- Guillermo BrownWilliam Brown (admiral)Admiral William Brown was an Irish-born Argentine Admiral. Brown's victories in the Independence War, the Argentina-Brazil War, and the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata earned the respect and appreciation of the Argentine people, and today he is regarded as one of Argentina's national...
, admiral - Che GuevaraChe GuevaraErnesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
, Marxist revolutionary - Gonzalo Cané (ed.), Dictionary of Irish Latin American Biography in Irish Migration Studies in Latin America
- Edelmiro Julián FarrellEdelmiro Julián FarrellGeneral Edelmiro Julián Farrell Plaul was an Argentine military officer of Irish descent. He was the de facto president of Argentina between 1944 and 1946....
, ex-PresidentPresident of ArgentinaThe President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
(de facto) - Maria Elena WalshMaría Elena WalshMaría Elena Walsh was an Argentine poet, novelist, musician, dramaturge, writer and composer, mainly known for her songs and books for children.-Biography:...
, writer - Rodolfo WalshRodolfo WalshRodolfo Jorge Walsh was an Argentine writer, considered the founder of investigative journalism. He is most famous for his Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta which he wrote the day before his murder, protesting that their economic policies were having an even greater effect on...
, writer; founder of investigative journalism in Argentina; assessinated in 1977 by the militar forces - Ricardo López MurphyRicardo López MurphyRicardo Hipólito López Murphy is an Argentine economist and politician.-Career:López Murphy was born in Adrogué, Buenos Aires Province. He attended the National University of La Plata, where he was awarded the title of "Licenciado en Economía" in 1975...
, Argentine politician and presidential candidate - Norma NolanNorma NolanNorma Nolan , is an Argentine who became, in 1962, the first woman from that country to obtain the Miss Universe title. She won the title in Miami Beach, Florida. Nolan is of Irish and Italian descent...
, Miss Universe 1962Miss Universe 1962Miss Universe 1962, the 11th Miss Universe pageant, was won by 24-year-old Norma Nolan of Argentina. It took place on 14 July 1962 at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.-Placements:-Special awards:... - Mario O'DonnellPacho O'DonnellMario O'Donnell , best known as Pacho O'Donnell, is an Argentine writer, politician and physician who specializes in psychoanalysis....
, writer - Camila O'GormanCamila O'GormanCamila O'Gorman was a wealthy socialite and figure of scandal in 19th century Argentina. She was executed during the last stages of pregnancy.-Early life:...
, 19th century socialite and victim of State repression. - Rob SmithRob Smith (Irish musician)Rob Smith is an Irish singer/songwriter and musician from Terenure in Dublin. Originally a street-busker, he has released two commercial albums to date Throwing It All Away in 2008 on his own Cocklebob Recordings label which featured three singles all of which made the top 10 in the Irish Downloads...
Irish born musician of Argentine descent. - Benito LynchBenito LynchBenito Lynch, Argentine novelist and short-story writer, was born in Buenos Aires on 25 July 1885, and died La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, 23 December 1951.-Origins and life:...
writer - Dalmacio Vélez SársfieldDalmacio Vélez SársfieldDalmacio Vélez Sársfield was an Argentine lawyer and politician who wrote the Argentine Civil Code of 1869, the vast majority of which remains in use to this day.-Life and times:...
author of the Argentine Civil Code - Santiago PhelanSantiago PhelanSantiago Phelan is a retired Argentine rugby union footballer. His usual position was flanker....
Argentine rugby player and current manager of the Argentine national team. - Bettina O'Connell Argentine actress and tv-hostess.
- Oscar Barney FinnOscar Barney FinnOscar Barney Finn is an Argentine film director and screenwriter. He directed seven films between 1974 and 1997. His 1985 film Count to Ten was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.-Filmography:...
Argentine film director. - Esteban MacDermott Argentine cricket captain.
- Guillermo Patricio KellyGuillermo Patricio KellyGuillermo Patricio Kelly was the leader of the Nationalist Liberation Alliance of Argentina from 1953 to 1955. Kelly sought to distance the ALN from its anti-Semitic past and met with Israel's ambassador to Argentina, Dr. Arie Kubovy during which Kelly informed Dr. Kubovy that the ALN had forsworn...
, 1922, 2005, Argentine entrepreneur, journalist, politician and others.
Irish Priests
- Anthony Dominic FahyAnthony Dominic FahyAnthony Dominic Fahy, was an Irish Dominican Priest, missionary and head of the Irish community in Argentina between 1844 to 1871.-Life:...
(1805–1871), DominicanDominican OrderThe Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
priest, missionary and head of the Irish community. - Patrick Joseph DillonPatrick Joseph DillonRev Patrick Joseph Dillon was an Irish Catholic priest, missionary in Argentina, politician and founder of The Southern Cross newspaper.In 1871 he succeeded Father Fahy as Irish Chaplain of Buenos Aires....
(1842–1889), priest and politician.
First Irish emigrants
- The first Irishmen that arrived to present day Argentina were the brothers Juan and Tomás (John and Thomas) Farrel in 1536. They were members of Pedro de MendozaPedro de MendozaPedro de Mendoza y Luján was a Spanish conquistador, soldier and explorer, and the first adelantado of the Río de la Plata.- Setting sail :...
's expedition.