Irish immigration to Mexico

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Irish Mexican
Total population
446 Republic of Ireland-born residents (2015)[1]
Unknown number of Mexicans of Irish descent
Languages
Mexican Spanish, English, Irish
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
other Irish diasporas

Irish Mexicans (Spanish: Irlandés-mexicano or Hibernomexicano; Irish: Gael-Meicsiceach) are inhabitants of Mexico that are immigrants from or descendants of immigrants from Ireland. The majority of Irish immigrants to Mexico were Catholic.

History[edit]

Tribute to the Irish soldiers who switched sides during the Mexican–American War at the Museo Nacional de las Intervenciones

A few Mexican Irish communities existed in Mexican Texas prior to the Texas Revolution. They were fully integrated into Mexican society at the time and were linked to their host society through inter-marriage, a shared language, and business ties.[2] When revolution broke out, many Irish sided with Catholic Mexico against Protestant pro-U.S. elements.[3] The Batallón de San Patricio was a largely (ethnically) Irish battalion of U.S. troops who deserted and fought alongside the Mexican Army against the United States in the Mexican–American War of 1846 to 1848.[4] Veterans of the battalion were awarded with the Cross of Honor for their service to the Mexican government.[5] In some cases, Irish immigrants or Americans left from California (the Irish Confederate army of Fort Yuma, Arizona during the American Civil War in 1861) and blended into Mexican society instead.[6]

Álvaro Obregón (O'Brien) was president of Mexico during 1920–1924 and Ciudad Obregón and its airport are named in his honor. Actor Anthony Quinn is another famous Mexican of Irish descent. There are also monuments in Mexico City paying tribute to those Irish who fought for Mexico in the 1800s.[7]

Notable Irish Mexicans[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Coogan, Tim Pat (2002). Wherever Green is Worn. Arrow Books. ISBN 0-09-995850-3.

  1. ^ "Población inmigrante residente en México según país de nacimiento, 2015" [Immigrant population residing in Mexico by country of birth, 2015] (in Spanish). Consejo Nacional de Población. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  2. ^ Murray, Edmundo (2008). "Secret Diasporas: The Irish in Latin America and the Caribbean". History Ireland. 16–17: 16 – via JSTOR.
  3. ^ Marshall, Tom (2010-06-17). "World Cup 2010: France are the common enemy for Mexico and Ireland". The Guardian. London.
  4. ^ Coogan page 609
  5. ^ a b Hogan, Michael (1997). "The Irish Soldiers of Mexico". History Ireland. 5: 38–39 – via JSTOR.
  6. ^ "Celebrating the Irish Connection | The-Tidings.com". Archived from the original on 2009-10-08. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  7. ^ "Beneath an Emerald Green Flag: The Story of Irish Soldiers in Mexico". Society for Irish Latin American Studies. September 2005. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
  8. ^ "Louis C.K. Talks Mexican Heritage: "I'm an Accidental White Person"". Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  9. ^ "12 DE MARZO DE 1812. NATALICIO DE IGNACIO COMONFORT". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  10. ^ "Edmundo and Juan O'Gorman". Society for Irish Latin American Studies. Retrieved 2009-06-19. Historian Edmundo O'Gorman (1906–1995) and architect Juan O'Gorman (1905-1982) were sons of the painter and mining engineer Cecil Crawford O'Gorman (1874–1943), who arrived in Mexico from Ireland in 1895, and Encarnación O'Gorman. Cecil was the grandson of Charles O'Gorman, who in the 1820s was the first British consul to Mexico city. Charles O'Gorman and his Mexican wife returned to the British Isles with their son John, who was to attend Eton and to go back to Mexico.
  11. ^ "Rediscovering our man in Mexico City". The Irish Times. June 6, 2007. Retrieved 2009-06-20. Few Irish people know the work of Mexican architect Juan O'Gorman - despite his Irish heritage. Gary Quinnwent to Mexico City to see the home he built for Mexico's most famous artists, Diego Rivera and Frida KahloIT'S incredible how successful the offspring of our diaspora can be without the Irish batting an eyelid. One of Mexico's most famous architects, Juan O'Gorman, was the eldest son of an Irishman, Cecil Crawford O'Gorman, who had moved to Mexico from Ireland in the late 1890s. ...
  12. ^ "Actor Anthony Quinn Dies". Wired. Reuters. June 3, 2001. Retrieved 2009-06-19. Anthony Rudolph Oaxaca Quinn was born on April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico, where his half-Irish father Francisco (Frank) Quinn had married a Mexican girl of Aztec Indian ancestry, Manuela, while fighting for revolutionary leader Pancho Villa.

External links[edit]