Sir, - Your correspondent R. Buckley wonders (May 29th) about the origin of Havana's Calle O'Reilly.
General Alexander O'Reilly, an Irish-born veteran of the Hibernia regiment in the Spanish service, was appointed governor of Havana when the city was restored to Spanish rule at the end of the Seven Years' War. O'Reilly was responsible for repairing the extensive damage caused to the city during the siege of 1762 when it was captured by British forces.
Following his return to Spain, O'Reilly was placed in command of a large expeditionary force that was assembled in Spanish ports during the early months of 1775.
O'Reilly's appointment was noted in Ireland and hopes were high among the Catholic population that the Spanish force might be intended for this country - particularly in view of the recent outbreak of hostilities between Britain and its American colonies. O'Reilly was portrayed as an approaching liberator in a contemporary song to the air of "Sile Ni Ghadhra": Ta an fhoireann so Liutair da dturnamh i ngach bothar,/Prussia agus a chomplacht ag tnuth le Hanover,/ Gage bocht i gcoimheascar da bhru ag Bostonians/Putnam da ruscadh agus gan suil le teacht beo aige./Ar bochna ta an gasra in arm agus i bhfaobhar/A seolta ar leathadh agus is maiseach a sceimh/Chun foirthin ar Bhanba o anbhroid dhaor,/Taoiseach ceart Gael orthu b'shin Captain Reilly/Agus beidh an la leis an mbuion seo ag Sile Ni Ghadhra.
The Spanish expedition, which was in fact directed against Algiers, proved to be a disastrous failure and O'Reilly's military reputation never fully recovered. Nonetheless, he was appointed to command Spanish forces in the Pyrenees when revolutionary France declared war on Spain in 1793, but he died suddenly in the following year, aged about 71. - Yours, etc.,
Vincent Morley, Ballymun Road, Dublin 9.