The Republic of Argentina declared its independence from Spain in 1810. At the time it was a sparsely populated land with a population of fewer than 500,000 - not counting the tribes of Indians who roamed its vast open spaces. It covers an area five times the size of France.
With independence, its economy quickly boomed, and investment poured in, particularly from England. Immigrants followed the money. In 1832 the British minister in Argentina, a Mr Parrish, estimated that there were 5,000 "British" immigrants in the province of Buenos Aires, and that about half of these were Irish. In those early years most of the Irish immigrants came via the United States, including one famous character, Patrick Donohue, a Kilkenny man who claimed to have walked from New York by way of Chile and the Andes.
The province of Buenos Aires consisted mainly of millions of acres of flat, featureless land - the Pampas - treeless, except around the occasional estancia which might have been planted for fruit or shade. The vast plains were grazed by herds of cattle, sheep, and horses. Most of these animals were destined to end their lives in the saladero (slaughterhouse and salting factory), close to the city of Buenos Aires. It was here also that many early Irish immigrants began their working careers in Argentina.
In 1827, Patrick Browne, a Wexford man, came to Buenos Aires and soon decided to set up a saladero for himself. Its main product was animal grease, which was shipped to Europe in barrels to lubricate the machines of the industrial revolution or for use in the manufacture of candles. The animals were slaughtered and rendered down in huge vats. The flesh of suitable animals might be dried and sold as charqui to feed the slaves on the sugar plantations of Brazil. Suitable hides were tanned, and bones were ground for fertiliser. Browne prospered greatly, and sent home to Wexford to recruit reliable workers.
A few years later John Mooney from Streamstown, Co. Westmeath set up a saladero in partnership with his son-in-law Patrick Bookey. This also prospered and Mooney, like Browne, recruited workers from his native place. Thus it happened that most of the early Irish immigrants in Argentina were from either Wexford or Westmeath. When I was growing up in Westmeath many years ago, there were a number of older men about who had come home from Argentina. The stories they told sparked my lifelong interest in Ireland's links with that country.
Labouring work at very good wages was easily found on the estancias. Many men began to buy into a flock of sheep on a share-cropping basis. The estanciero provided a flock of about 3,000 sheep. The shepherd bought a one-third share, took over the responsibility for the animals' welfare, and received one third of the profits at the end of the year. Many of them prospered, and began to buy up land. Others began to set up various businesses, such as Michael Duggan from near Ballymahon, who decided he could make more money from dealing in wool. He went on to become reputedly the richest Irishman in the world, with interests in banking and railways, and bought vast areas of land from the government, which he developed and sold in square-league lots - the size of a standard holding at that time.
The Mulhall brothers, two Irish journalists who founded an English-language newspaper in Buenos Aires named The Standard, produced a Handbook' of the River Plate, in 1885 in which they estimated that Irish sheep-farmers owned about 15 million sheep and 8 million acres of land in the province of Buenos Aires.
This comparatively small Irish community in Argentina certainly made its presence felt. Mayo-born Admiral William Brown is acknowledged as the founder of the Argentine navy, and one of the principal leaders of the fight for independence. General John Thomond O'Brien, a Wicklow man, was chief aide to San Martin, the military leader in the war of independence. A Dr Michael O'Gorman from Co Clare set up the first medical school in Buenos Aires, an establishment that has produced many doctors with Irish names since then. Thomas Armstrong from Athlone was a founder and first managing director of the Banco Nacional in Buenos Aires. The Irish community also produced many parliamentarians and senators, including General Edelmiro Farrell, who was president of Argentina in the 1940s. In 1875 Monsignor Patricio J Dillon founded a weekly English-language newspaper, The Southern Cross, serving the Irish community. It is still produced, though now monthly, and in Spanish. William Bulfin, an Offaly man, well known here for his book Rambles in Erin, was its editor from 1896 to 1906.
By the end of the 19th century, emigration from Ireland had dwindled to a trickle. Italian immigrants were flooding into Argentina, much to the annoyance of many of the Irish there. Wages for manual workers fell rapidly as the supply of labour increased. By the turn of the 20th century the Southern Cross was warning potential Irish emigrants: "Do not come to Argentina. Work is hard to find and wages are wretched. Good land is not available, and the cost of living is high."
The good days were over. El Dorado had shut down.