"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"
This column is dedicated to Patrick Haran, a long-time fan who took it upon himself to make sure we celebrated his namesake St. Patrick’s Day in Latino style. He wrote to me in February:
"I have always been interested in the Latin-Irish connection, but very few people know a lot about this history. For example the ‘San Patricios’ during the Mexican-American War," Patrick wrote, "I'm sure you know about them and also Admiral Brown – he was the founder of the Argentine Navy and was also an Irishman.
"Did you know that 1,500,000 Mexicans claim Irish descent? It’s the fifth largest group outside of Ireland: USA, UK, Australia, Canada, and then Mexico. Argentina and brazil are up there too, amazing!"
Uhhhhhmm, no, I had no idea. Patrick went on:
"Ambrosio O'Higgins was a general I believe in the Chilean Army and his father was an Irishman. Also, Che Guevara's father’s name was actually Ernesto Guevara Lynch and his father was an Irishman."
Patrick’s enthusiasm for this subject flowed forth like the green water splashing on the banks of the Chicago River. Armed with this knowledge, I present to you some interesting Latino-Irish tidbits, with more than a little help from Patrick – thanks, buddy!
Donna de Varona
She is the two-time Olympic gold medalist who swam in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics. She came from a Mexican father and an Irish mother. According to Wikipedia, in 1965 ABC hired her as the first female sportscaster in TV history.
She is also the older sister of Joanna Kerns who played Maggie Seaver on the hit TV show Growing Pains.
Rita Hayworth
Was born Margarita Carmen Cansino to an English/Irish-American mother and a Spanish Flamenco-dancing father, according to Wikipedia. Pat added: "she began career touring USA and Mexico performing traditional Spanish dances along with her famous father Eduardo Casino. Hollywood forced her to change her name and dye her hair to appear less Hispanic."
Patrick added: "Also, Soledad O'Brien, Fergie, and Mariah Carey can all claim Irish-Latino descent." He
did not, however, editorialize about where these HispIrish ladies fall on his "hottie" scale. Eamon de Valera
The president of Ireland from June 25, 1959 to June 24, 1973. Wikipedia says, "
De Valera was born in the New York Nursery and Child's Hospital in New York City in 1882 to an Irish mother; he stated that his parents, Catherine Coll an immigrant from Bruree, County Limerick, and Juan Vivion de Valera, a Cuban settler and sculptor, were married on 18 September 1881 at St. Patrick's Church located within the Greenville Section of Jersey City, NJ. However, exhaustive trawls through church and state records give no birth, baptismal, or death certificate information for anyone called Juan Vivion de Valera or de Valeros, an alternative spelling. The historian Sean Murphy has listed the long-term search for facts about Mr. de Valera, allowing that he may have come from New Mexico, and was perhaps returning there at the time of his death." Anthony Quinn
"What a great actor!" Patrick gushed, "born in Mexico, to an Irish father and Mexican mother." Indeed, Wikipedia says Quinn was "a two-time Academy Award-winning Mexican-American actor, as well as a painter and writer. He starred in numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, including Zorba the Greek, Lawrence of Arabia, and Federico Fellini's La strada."
Patrick – that green fountain of information – gave so many examples that I can’t fit them in without calling today’s edition, "7,000 Words by Esther J. Cepeda," so I’ll give some blurbs and send you on to link heaven:
Rodolfo Walsh – Pat says: "Just reading up on the Argentine father of investigative journalism named. His "open letter" got him killed by the Argentine government in 1976. Gabriel Garcia Marquez considered it to be a masterpiece of international writing. He was also a leftist that bombed a police cafeteria."
The San Patricios - Mexico's Fighting Irish – In 1846, thousands of immigrants, mostly Irish, joined the US army and were sent with Gen. Zachary Taylor's army to invade Mexico in what some historians have called a war of Manifest Destiny… William Brown – Brown, William (1777-1857), naval officer and founder of the Argentine navy, was born in Foxford, Co. Mayo, on 22 June 1777.This from Pat: "I was at the commemoration of a statue to Admiral Brown in Foxford Co., Mayo, Ireland in the summer of 1998. The town was packed with Argentines and also packed with English tourists (as you'll have every summer in Ireland). What made this day so special and so memorable was that Argentina and England were playing in the World Cup that afternoon against each other.
The pub we were watching the match in was very mixed, with most of the Irish rooting for Argentina and the English obviously rooting for their own country. The match was one of the best ever I have seen. I do not recall the details, but remember it going down to the wire and perhaps penalty kicks and Argentina pulling it out when David Beckham missed his penalty kick. What a fantastic day!"
Muchas, gracias, Pat – and feliz dia de San Patricio!
++++++++++update on March 17, 2010+++++++++++++
Here's this one-year-later footnote to my thought. Culled from the editorial page of the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/opinion/17wed4.html
'San Patricio'
On this day of all days in the Irish-American calendar, when ethnic pride swells, let’s raise a toast: Here’s to the Irish, and here’s to the rest of us. May we never forget where we came from. Nearly all of us were Mexicans once. That is: the new immigrants, poor and reviled, propelled by hope and hunger into America’s prickly embrace.
What brings this juxtaposition to mind is “San Patricio,” a new album from Paddy Moloney of the great Irish traditionalist band the Chieftains. It commemorates a historical footnote: the San Patricio battalion of Irish-immigrant soldiers who deserted the United States Army and fought for Mexico in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. They picked the losing side, were captured, executed or branded as traitors, and then forgotten, except by Mexicans.
Mr. Moloney, a musician of restless curiosity, saw it as a tale of tragedy and loss, but also a chance for creative collision. “If the Irish were there, there would most certainly have been music,” he says. The same goes for the Mexicans. He invited Irish, Mexican and American musicians to play and sing, to see what would happen.
What happened was not all dolorous lamentation, though there is some of that. The rest is joy, thoroughly Mexican yet utterly Irish, carried aloft by tin whistles, skin drums, pipes, harps, guitars and stomping feet. It’s a mix you’ve never heard, but eerily familiar. Listen to the classic “Canción Mixteca,” sung in Spanish by the Mexican supergroup Los Tigres del Norte, accompanied by accordion, bajo sexto, tin whistle and uilleann pipes.
“How far I am from the land where I was born! Immense longing invades my thoughts, and when I see myself as alone and sad as a leaf in the wind, I want to cry. I want to die of sorrow.”
That old song, woven into the Mexican soul, is as Irish as it gets. And it’s an American song, too. We are all people who have lost our land in one sad way and found another. Whether we lament and celebrate in a pub or cantina, whether our tricolor flag has a cactus on it or not, we are closer to one another than we remember.
Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Her views and reporting do not necessarily reflect those of ISAC. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com
The blog's key lies in the fact that it can attract people's attention. I really like your blog!
Posted by: | July 22, 2010 at 03:22 AM
Esther, what we now need is a passionate articulate Italian to pay tribute to my people like you do yours....I'm passionate, but probably don't have the energetic footwork you have to track down the stories
Posted by: jack spatafora | March 20, 2009 at 05:22 PM