Union leaders were initially reluctant to establish ethnically based units but were soon swayed by the attractions of enhanced Irish recruitment to a brigade with its own Irish commanders. Significantly, Irish involvement meant the acceptance—for the first time in American life—of a large Catholic force. The brigade’s chief chaplain, Fr William Corby (later president of … Read more
About 30,000 Irishmen fought with the Confederacy, predominantly infantrymen who saw combat against fellow countrymen without giving quarter. Most responded to the call-up for a meagre wage ($8 a month) and probably had no strong convictions. Many had been wharf and dock workers in New Orleans and other southern ports. As Catholics they had found … Read more
In June 1823, six months after being ousted from government, Bernardo O’Higgins seriously thought about going into exile in Ireland. He had been under house arrest for six months at Valparaiso, Chile’s main port city, 60 miles west of Santiago, the capital. The new government had just given him permission to leave the country. He … Read more
The most flourishing Irish rural settlements in the region grew up in the Argentine and Uruguayan Pampas. The successful integration of the immigrants into the wool production cycle was followed by spontaneous networks attracting family members, neighbours and friends from Ireland. Between 1830 and 1930 about 50,000 emigrants went to Argentina. One half returned to … Read more
Irish soldiers active in the region by the end of the eighteenth century and during the wars of independence were members of British, Spanish, Portuguese and South American armies. In the eighteenth century the Spanish regiment Ultonia, with Irish origins in Catalonia, was stationed in Mexico. In Chile, the Spanish Crown appointed Ambrose O’Higgins of … Read more