The Irish standard., 1907-12-14
There Are One Hundred Thousand Persons
Of Irish Birth or Descent in Ar
gentina Alone.
And the Children of "the Sea-Divided Gael,''
Happy in That Land, Are Doing
Their Part Well.

Whenever st. Patric1's Day is be-
Ing celebrated in most sections of the
United States there is no grass upon
the fields. No soft, warm wind moves
through nyriads of leaves mllrnlur
ing upon summer boughs. Strange,
shy birds do not warble all day across
vast acres Of ripe, golden wheat. Sleek
herds Of nut-brown cattle do not stand
through long, hot mid-noons. Finally,
innumerable groups Of Irish-American
lads and lassies do not seek sheltered
groves and picnic and dance, under
the watchful eyes Of fathers and moth
ers, through the mellow afternoon and
go home when the moon begins to
and organdies and other summer ap-
parel. With us st. Patrick's Day is
too cold and bleak for such outdoor
pastimes. -...- .*..., - .-.-.e
But it Is different down in Argen-
tina, in far-off South America, writes
Charles J. Ryan in the Syracuse, N. Y,
Sun.
When we have summer that country
SIS having it's winter-such as it is,
and when we have winter they are
having their sweetest summer. At
christmas roses are blooming in every
yard, for Argentina is a land Of roses,
and the birds of summer are singing
there, and the little children are sing
ing, and the young girls and the young
men, and even the older people are
merry. For the Irish race is happy in
rgentina-happier, even, than it is in
the United States. Few Of the mill
lions Of Irish in this country know
what a large colony Of their people
exists in Argentina; still, the fact is
that there are nearly one hundred
thousand persons of Irish birth or de-
scent in Argentina alone. In Buenos
Aires there are thousands of thenl and
there Is hardly a distinctly Irish name
in the Eastern, Western, Southern or
Northern States of the Union that
cannot be duplicated down in Irish
Argentina. There are, for instance,
Dolans, Nolans, Malloys, McGuires,
Egans, O'Mearas, O'Haras,, O'Hagans,
Ryans, Bryans, O'Neills, O'Briens and
there are also representatives of vir-
tually every other sept in Ireland. And
they are not rebels in Argentina. One
who knows the country we'll states it
Il solemn truth that while revolutions
are common in Latin Americas
. everybody knows-there are very, very
few really the most conservative ele-
n1ent in Irish ever involved in them
"They are Latin American civiliza-
tion," he writes, and since he happens
to be English and a priest, his state
rnent ought to be regarded accurate.
The intelligence of the Irish-Argen-
tines may be seen in the large num-
ber Of schools and colleges they have
erected. The Colegio Irlandes, at Sano
Argentine, is in charge of Miguel
'OA3ren. Miguel is Spanish for
Michael, be it known. And, by the
way, 1risll-American young women
who wish to have pretty names ought
to have been born in Argentina, or to
60 there at once.
While the Irish speak English there,
Spanish is the language OF the coun-
try, and thousands of the young peo-
pie (and many of the older) speak it
also. Born i'll Spanish speaking
country. the young people still have
the good old Irish names Of Mary,
Michael, Patrick. Anna, Lucy, Maur-
ice. Thomas, Edward and such like,
but they are "Spanishized" at bsp-
tism as Maria, Miguel, Patricio, Ana,
Lucia, Maurice, Tomas and Eduardo.
Thus, in a recent Irish Argentine pa
per, it was stated in good, old-fash-
joned English: "The marriage of Sc
norita Brigida Fitzgerald and Senor