Irish Migration Studies in Latin America

Known as Banda Oriental until the 1900s, Uruguay was a part of the Spanish colonial Viceroyalty of the River Plate. In 1814, José Artigas and other leaders broke with the governing junta in Buenos Aires, initiating a struggle for inde-pendence which lasted until Brazil’s annexation of Uruguay in 1821. The Eastern Republic of Uruguay was constituted in 1830. In 1762 the Irish-born captain John McNamara led a British force to occupy Colonia del Sacramento, a stronghold alternately held by the Portuguese and the Spanish. The expedition ended in failure and McNamara lost his life in the attempt, together with most of his men. Brigadier-General Samuel Auchmuty occupied Montevideo in 1807 with a regular force of British and Irish officers and rank and file. British rule in Uruguay lasted fourteen months, a period during which prominent merchants from Britain and Ireland settled in the city, influenc-ing its culture. One Irish soldier enlisted in the 71st Regiment, Peter Campbell (1780-c1832), remained in the River Plate and served in the patriot ranks. He fought under Artigas and was appointed deputy governor of Corrientes province. Campbell is credited as a founder of the Uruguayan navy. Often perceived by the English and Irish press as part of the same country as Buenos Aires and Paraguay, Uruguay started to receive a steady flow of Irish immigration in the decades subsequent to independence. The countryside, especially in Rio Negro district, was settled by sheep-farmers from Kilrane parish in County Wexford. Paysandú, in the same district and close to the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, was settled by immigrants from Westmeath and Long-ford