Irish Colombians

**Irish Colombians** (Irish: *Gael-Colóimeach*, Spanish: *Hiberno-colombianos*) are Colombian citizens who are full or partial Irish descent. Irish immigrants from Cork, Limerick, Dublin, and Wexford arrived in Colombia mainly from 1840 to 1910, along with the substantial wave that took place in 1860–1890.

## History

During the independence of Colombia, many Irish volunteers had to enter Colombia to battle with Simon's soldiers in order to make the country an independent nation. About 1,000 to 2,000 members were led by several Irishmen including William Aylmer, Francisco Burdett O'Connor and James Towers English helped in the battle.

Another Irish volunteer Daniel Florence O'Leary was one of Simon Bolivar's officers who fought in the war of independence. Seamus Grace and Alphie Lamb established Legion throughout the country. The Legion was well received in Colombia, especially by the poor, brought many people back to the Catholic faith, and later expanded to other parts of South America.

Between 1845 to 1849, many Irish families left from Ireland to Colombia as a result of the Great Famine which caused all Irish peasants to leave from mass starvations and diseases. Most of the Irish immigrants that arrived in Colombia were Catholics who left for religious incidents. Some land owners would rather evict tenants to mount returning Irish ships. Others left abroad from other overcrowded docks in Liverpool and Cork. For the Irish immigrants, new places in the region brought interest in paying land proportions, working as laborers, sheep-farming, and purchasing estate.

In the early 20th century, 21,304 Irish emigrated to the Cundinamarca Department. Only some Irish were born in Ireland, while 5,547 individuals are born in Colombia. At present, there are roughly 800,000–1,700,000 Irish descendants in Colombia.

## Culture

During St. Patricks Day, it is often celebrated in the capital of Bogotá since the Irish quickly merged into the Colombian society.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Edmundo Murray. "The Irish in Colombia". Society for Irish Latin American Studies. http://www.irlandeses.org/colombia.htm. Retrieved May 10 2009.
2. ↑ "La contribución irlandesa desconocida en las guerras de independencia de América Latina.". *infobae.com*. https://www.infobae.com/historia/2017/06/03/el-desconocido-aporte-irlandes-en-las-guerras-independentistas-de-amerca-latina/. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
3. ↑ Irish embassy in Colombia
4. ↑ Moises Enrique Rodriguez (2006). *Freedom's Mercenaries: British Volunteers in the Wars of Independence of Latin America*. Hamilton Books, page 164.
5. ↑ "The Historical Significance of the Legion of Mary in South America (1950-1984)". Transporter Info Services. Archived from the original on March 8, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080308090147/http://www.transporter.com/FatherPeffley/Articles/LOMSA.html. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
6. ↑ "Bogotá se unió a la celebración de San Patricio" (in Spanish). https://www.elmundo.com/noticia/Bogota-se-unio-a-la-celebracion-de-San-Patricio/48582. Retrieved March 17 2017.

## Further reading

* Murray, Edmundo. Irish Doctors in the Colombian Wars of Independence
* Murray, Edmundo. Glimpses of the Irish in Nineteenth-Century Bogotá
* Murray, Edmundo. Irish Doctors in the Colombian Wars of Independence

## External links

* Irish community in Colombia
* Irish migration history to Colombia