The Mexican-Irish connection may date back farther than most of us have considered. Séamus Ó Fógartaigh writes in the essay, Ireland and Mexico, “The first Irishman to set foot on Mexican soil may well have been St. Brendan the Navigator, who, according to legend, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his ‘currach’ (traditional Irish rowing boat) in search of new converts to the Christian faith. An ancient manuscript found in Medieval European monasteries allegedly described his voyage to strange Western Lands, and is known as the Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis. Some historians claim that Christopher Columbus found inspiration for his seafaring adventure in the pages of the Navigatio of St. Brendan the Abbot.” And, he notes, there is even speculation that Quetzalcóatl was actually a deified Irish monk.
As you raise your pint of Guinness on this St. Patrick’s Day, consider this and the other Mexico and Ireland connections, while you sing a rousing chorus of Saint Patrick Battalion.
The song celebrates the Batallón de San Patricio, the Irish-American soldiers who deserted and fought alongside the Mexican army against the United States during the Mexican American War, 1846-1848. And, don’t forget to watch One Man’s Hero, the 1999 feature film about the San Patricios, starring Tom Berenger.
Sláinte mhaith! ¡Salud! And, remember, don’t drink and drive!
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View From Casita Colibrí 
Wow! Thanks! I have always heard the st Brendan story, and the San Patricio Batalion is an episode in my Mexican History class. The students love this story!
And it looks like the song was recorded at a Unitarian church, from the wall carving behind him.
Thanks so much for all your writings.
Mary
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Thanks, Mary! Your kind words are much appreciated. 😉
I once bought a beautiful hand crocheted sweater in Mitla and a friend found a total dead ringer image of said sweater in some Irish textile files from the late 1800’s. It was really uncanny.
Thought you might find this interesting:
“Irish famine spawns Irish crochet
Irish crochet was a virtual lifesaver for the people of Ireland. It pulled them out of their potato famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1850 and threw them into abject poverty.
During these times, living and working conditions for the Irish were harsh. They crocheted between farm chores and outdoors to take advantage of sunlight. After dark, they moved indoors to work by the light of a candle, a slow-burning peat fire or an oil lamp.
A place to keep their crochetwork presented a problem, for many were living in squalor. If they had no other spot it went under the bed where it inevitably became dirty. Fortunately, the crocheted piece could be washed and its original luster completely recaptured. Ironically, buyers abroad were unaware that their delicate collars and cuffs were made in primitive dwellings under poverty-stricken conditions.
Irish workers – men as well as women and children – were organized into crochet cooperatives. Schools were formed to teach the skill and teachers were trained and sent all over Ireland, where the workers were soon creating new patterns of their own. And, although more than a million died in less than 10 years, the Irish people survived the famine. Families relied on their earnings from crochet, which gave them the chance to save up enough to emigrate and start a new life abroad, taking their crochet skills with them.
Potter tells us that the Irish immigrated to America- two million between 1845 and 1859, four million by 1900. American women, busy with their spinning, weaving, knitting and quilting, could not help but be influenced to include in their handwork the crochet skills of their new neighbors.”
— http://www.crochet.org/?page=CrochetHistory
[…] And, for more Irish in Mexico history, I’m re-posting my March 17, 2016 blog post, St. Brendan in Mexico? […]