A view of the attendance at Mullingar Library on Thursday night for the Heritage Week event celebrating the links between Longford, Westmeath and Argentina. In the front row are, from left, heritage officer Melanie McQuade; county council cathaoirleach, Cllr Aoife Davitt; Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Christopher O’Sullivan; Lisa Shortall, Heritage Council, Una Byrne, chairperson, Longford Westmeath Argentina Society, and Deirdre Reilly, director of services at Westmeath County Council.

Pampas migration recalled in oral history project

Published:

One of the ‘I’ll bet you never knew that!’ gotchas in Irish history is that for around 100 years, there was large scale emigration from Ireland to Argentina, mainly from Westmeath and Longford.

Now, a project is under way to record an oral history marking that tranche of emigration, facilitated by oral historian, Adrian Roche, on behalf of the heritage offices of the county councils of Longford and Westmeath and the Longford Westmeath Argentina Society.

In a compelling event at Mullingar Library during Heritage Week, local officials and national leaders – including the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Christopher O’Sullivan – launched the Argentine Immigration Oral History Project, highlighting the links between this area and Argentina.

The cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, Cllr Aoife Davitt, addressing the large crowd who attended the event, said that approximately 30,000 Irish people emigrated to Argentina between 1820 and 1870 alone, and emigration continued into the 20th century at a reduced level.

Welcoming the instigation of the oral history project, she said it was fitting that the formal launch of the project was taking place in the library, since it was the library that would, ultimately, house the archive generated.

Minister O’Sullivan admitted he had not been aware of the strength of the connection with Argentina, and expressed excitement about uncovering the experiences of Irish settlers who would have encountered the dramatic landscapes of the Andes and Argentine plains.

The minister also went on to say that he had been “blown away” by his visits earlier that day to two “of the most extraordinary houses” he had ever seen – Belvedere House and Tullynally Castle. He was also impressed by the bog restoration project at Tyrrellspass.

Lisa Shortall, of the Heritage Council (which has a staff of just 31) revealed that she had visited Argentina while on her honeymoon, and at the town of San Antonio de Areco came across a map of the area which revealed to her – through placenames – the extent of the Irish influence in the area.

Una Byrne, chair of the Longford Westmeath Argentina Society, said the oral history project is “something very special”.

“Recording our stories is vital,” she said. “They are the threads that weave together the past, the present and the future, bounding memory, identity and belonging.”

The oral historian Adrian Roach told the gathering that as early as the 1850s, there was a strong network in place in Argentina to help and encourage new arrivals, who would have undertaken a journey of six to eight weeks to get to Buenos Aires.

“The aims of the project are to capture and preserve the recollections and stories of 10 people, and we split that five from Longford and five from Westmeath, from members of families who had immigrated to Argentina several generations ago,” he said. “This will create an oral history collection to preserve these stories for both the local community and those interested in the history of the two counties.”

Published: