page_title: Irish Argentine
section_title: Culture and sport
hierarchical_section_title: Irish Argentine / Culture and sport
caption_attribution_description: Ushuaia
context_page_description: Irish Argentines are Argentine citizens who are fully or partially of Irish descent. Irish emigrants from the Midlands, Wexford and many counties of Ireland arrived in Argentina mainly from 1830 to 1930, with the largest wave taking place in 1850–1870. The modern Irish-Argentine community is composed of some of their descendants, and the total number is estimated at 500,000–1,000,000.
  Argentina is the home of the fifth largest Irish community in the world, the largest in a non-English speaking nation and the greatest in Latin America.
context_section_description: The earliest reference to hurling in Argentina dates from the late 1880s in the ranching town of Mercedes, Buenos Aires, a major center of the Irish-Argentine community. However, the game wasn't actively promoted until 1900 when it came to the attention of author and newspaperman William Bulfin. Under Bulfin's patronage, the Argentine Hurling Club was formed on 15 July 1900. On 17 August 1900, Bulfin printed the rules and a diagram of a hurling pitch in The Southern Cross, the official newspaper of the Argentina's Irish community. Enthusiasm spread rapidly and teams were quickly established in both the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires and the surrounding farming communities. The Passionist and Pallotine Orders took a major role in promoting the game.
  
  Games of hurling were played every weekend until 1914 and received frequent coverage even from Argentina's Spanish language newspapers like La Nacion. After the outbreak of World War I, however, it became very almost impossible to obtain hurleys from Ireland. An attempt was made to use native Argentine mountain ash, but it proved too heavy and lacking in pliability. Although the game was revived after the end of the war, the golden age of Argentine hurling had passed. World War II finally brought the era to its close. 
  In the aftermath of the Second World War, immigration from Ireland slowed to a trickle. In addition, native born Irish-Argentines assimilated far quickier than in other places, Hispanicising their names and frequently marrying outside the community, something unheard of in the past. Although the game continued to be occasionally played into the 1960s, it would never regain its former popularity. In 1980 the Aer Lingus Hurling Club conducted a three-week tour of the country and played matches at several locations, including the Christian Brothers school at Boulogne, Buenos Aires.
  In January 2002 for the first time The Hurling All-Stars Teams 2000 y 2001 came to the Hurling Club in Argentina making an outstanding exhibition.
  In February 2009 the GAA sent George O'Connor and Martin Lynch to give a Summer Camp, it was so successful that after it two more where conducted on the following years. The last summer camp was given by Damien Coleman on October 2012, who set up the foundation of the team that took part on the 2013 Gathering tournament held on Galway.
  As mentioned above, in 2013 the team travelled to Galway and played in an outstanding level reaching the final which they lost for one point against the Denver Gaels from the US.
  The Argentine Hurling Club counts now with a Hurling and a Gaelic Football team, this last one won the first World Games held in Abu Dhabi in the non-Irish division.
caption: Irish Pub in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego.
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