This is the next lecture in our series called The Irish and... featuring an in-depth look at the Irish in South America. Historian and author Tim Fanning will discuss his book Paisanos: The Forgotten Irish Who Changed the Face of Latin America.
The early Irish presence in Latin America is connected with traditional links between the Irish in Britain, Spain and Portugal. The first recorded Irish arrivals there were Juan and Tomás Farrel, who accompanied Pedro de Mendoza to found Buenos Aires in the Río de la Plata region in 1536. But over the next three centuries, thousands of Irish men and women arrived there, lured by the promise of adventure and fortune. They and their descendants fought for independence and helped to shape modern Latin America. This talk will include luminaries including Irish-born Argentine hero Admiral William Brown and Chile's great liberator Bernardo Higgins, trailblazing women like Eliza Lynch and Camila O' Gorman, and the viceroy of Peru, Ambrose O' Higgins.