Misplaced Pages

Saint Patrick's Battalion

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an accepted version of this page

#733266

177-642: The Saint Patrick's Battalion ( Spanish : Batallón de San Patricio ), later reorganized as the Foreign Legion of Patricios , was a Mexican Army unit which fought against the United States in the Mexican–American War . Consisting of between 175 and several hundred mostly European expatriates and immigrants , including numerous men who had deserted or defected from the United States Army ,

354-575: A cumann in Clifden in honor of Reilly. The battalion has inspired numerous responses: it is the name of an supporters's association of the association football team Club Deportivo Chivas USA . The unit was evoked in a Saint Patrick's Day message from Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation , The San Patricios have been remembered as a symbol of international solidarity with Mexico. There are conflicting accounts of

531-699: A Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish. The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996. The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish , owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898. Irish diaspora The Irish diaspora ( Irish : Diaspóra na nGael ) refers to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside

708-457: A boat. Jeames Benninge (a Scottish indentured servant), black Franke (a servant to Mr John Devitt), and Tomakin, Clemento, and black Dick (servants of Mrs Anne Trimingham) were also punished. In 1661, the colonial government alleged that a plot was being hatched by an alliance of Blacks and Irish, one which involved cutting the throats of all Bermudians of English descent. The governor of Bermuda , William Sayle (who had returned to Bermuda after

885-651: A brigade of 700 Irish volunteers to fight for Franco during the Spanish Civil War , and Frank Ryan led the Connolly Column who fought on the opposite side, with the Republican International Brigades . William Joyce became an English-language propagandist for Nazi Germany , known colloquially as Lord Haw-Haw . Some of the first Irish people to travel to the New World did so as members of

1062-459: A cavalry unit, in mid-1847 by personal order of Santa Anna. It was renamed the Foreign Legion of Patricios and consisted of volunteers from many European countries, commanded by Col. Francisco R. Moreno, with Riley in charge of 1st company and Santiago O'Leary heading up the second. Desertion handbills were produced, specially targeting Catholic Irish, French and German immigrants in the invading U.S. army and stating that "You must not fight against

1239-588: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to

1416-782: A crucial focus of communal life among some of the immigrant population and their descendants. The largest ethnic group among the Roman Catholic priesthood of Britain remains Irish (in the United States, the upper ranks of the Church's hierarchy are of predominantly Irish descent). The former head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland is Cardinal Keith O'Brien . Scotland experienced a significant amount of Irish immigration, particularly in Glasgow , Edinburgh and Coatbridge . This led to

1593-517: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of

1770-476: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after

1947-415: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of

SECTION 10

#1732855879734

2124-684: A people who aspire to the title of illustrious and humane", and by a writer covering the war as "a refinement of cruelty and ... fiendish". George Ballentine remarked, in his account of his American military service in Mexico, "[T]he desertion of our soldiers to the Mexican army ... were still numerous, in spite of the fearful example of the executions at Churubusco, [and] also served to inspire that party with hope." Those who survived either made lives for themselves in Mexico or returned to their home nations such as Ireland. Some former San Patricios found work at

2301-476: A point in the Mexican defenses, and mistook San Patricio members for friendly U.S. army troops; the San Patricios opened fire on them, killing or wounding all but one of the group. Though hopelessly outnumbered and under-equipped, the defenders repelled the attacking U.S. forces with heavy losses until their ammunition ran out and a Mexican officer raised the white flag of surrender. Officer Patrick Dalton of

2478-498: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as

2655-618: A quarter claimed some Irish ancestry in one survey. The Irish have traditionally been involved in the building trade and transport particularly as dockers, following an influx of Irish workers, or navvies , to build the British canal, road and rail networks in the 19th century. This is largely due to the flow of emigrants from Ireland during the Great Famine of 1845–1849. Many Irish servicemen, particularly sailors, settled in Britain: During

2832-467: A religious people, nor should you be seen in the ranks of those who proclaim slavery of mankind as a constitutive principle ... liberty is not on the part of those who desire to be lords of the world, robbing properties and territories which do not belong to them and shedding so much blood in order to accomplish their views, views in open war to the principles of our holy religion". The Battle of Churubusco (20 August 1847) took place about four months after

3009-537: A result, Irish in Leinster, and Munster, with property worth more than £10, were ordered to move to Connaught , to land valued at no more than 1/3 the value of their current holding, or be banished on pain of death. In the 17th century 50,000 Irish people are estimated to have migrated to the New World colonies, 165,000 by 1775. The population of Ireland fell from 1,466,000 to 616,000, between 1641 and 1652, over 550,000 attributed to famine and other war-related causes. In

3186-599: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of

3363-518: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as

3540-416: A silver cross and a golden harp, embroidered by the hands of the fair nuns of San Luis Potosí . The second notes only: Among the mighty host we passed was O'Reilly [ sic ] and his company of deserters bearing aloft in high disgrace the holy banner of St. Patrick. A radically different version of the flag was described in a Mexican source: They had a white flag/standard, on which were found

3717-605: A strong political presence in the UK (mostly in Scotland), in local government and at the national level. Former prime ministers David Cameron , Tony Blair , John Major and James Callaghan have been amongst the many in Britain of part-Irish ancestry; Blair's mother, Hazel Elizabeth Rosaleen Corscaden, was born on 12 June 1923 in Ballyshannon , County Donegal . Former Chancellor George Osborne

SECTION 20

#1732855879734

3894-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent

4071-436: Is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout the world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish

4248-555: Is a member of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy and heir to the baronetcies of Ballentaylor and Ballylemon. Moreover, the UK holds official public St. Patrick's Day celebrations. While many such celebrations were suspended in the 1970s because of The Troubles , the holiday is now widely celebrated by the UK public. Irish links with the continent go back many centuries. During the early Middle Ages, 700–900 AD, many Irish religious figures went abroad to preach and found monasteries in what

4425-409: Is also used) who had been untested by battle. A lack of ammunition led the Mexican soldiers in the trenches between the bridgehead and the convent to disband; without ammunition, they had no way to fight back. Santa Anna had ordered half of these soldiers to a different part of the battlefield. When the requested ammunition wagon finally arrived, the 9 ½ drachm cartridges were compatible with none but

4602-449: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also

4779-740: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law

4956-819: Is known as the Hiberno-Scottish mission . Saint Brieuc founded the city that bears his name in Brittany , Saint Colmán founded the great monastery of Bobbio in northern Italy and one of his monks was Saint Gall for whom the Swiss town of St Gallen and canton of St Gallen are named. During the Counter-Reformation , Irish religious and political links with Europe became stronger. An important centre of learning and training for Irish priests developed in Leuven (Lúbhan in Irish) in

5133-621: Is named Callan Glen for a Scottish-born shipwright, Claude MacCallan , who settled in Bermuda after the vessel in which he was a passenger was wrecked off the North Shore in 1787. MacCallan swam to a rock from which he was rescued by a Bailey's Bay fisherman named Daniel Seon ( Sheehan ). A later Daniel Seon was appointed Clerk of the House of Assembly and Prothonotary of the Court of General Assize in 1889 (he

5310-590: Is named after him, as well as the Almirante Brown partido , part of the Gran Buenos Aires urban area, with a population of over 500.000 inhabitants. The first entirely Roman Catholic English language publication published in Buenos Aires, The Southern Cross is an Argentine newspaper founded on 16 January 1875 by Dean Patricio Dillon, an Irish immigrant, a deputy for Buenos Aires Province and president of

5487-584: Is painted Libertad por la Republica Mexicana [Liberty for the Mexican Republic]. Under the harp is the motto of Erin go Bragh! On the other side is a painting ... made to represent St. Patrick, in his left hand a key and in his right a crook or staff resting upon a serpent. Underneath is painted San Patricio . Two other eye-witness accounts of the flag exist, both from American soldiers. The first describes it as: ... a beautiful green silk banner [which] waved over their heads; on it glittered

Saint Patrick's Battalion - Misplaced Pages Continue

5664-806: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off

5841-534: Is the Republic of Ireland 's Minister of State for the Diaspora and Overseas Aid, a post which was established in 2014. The term Irish diaspora is open to many interpretations. The diaspora , broadly interpreted, contains all those known to have Irish ancestors, i.e., over 100 million people, which is more than fifteen times the population of the island of Ireland , which was about 6.4 million in 2011. It has been argued

6018-804: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in

6195-484: Is the official Spanish language of the State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on the other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by

6372-585: Is used as an official language by many international organizations , including the United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian),

6549-567: Is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for

6726-465: The San Patricios tore the white flag down, prompting Gen. Pedro Anaya to order his men to fight on, with their bare hands if necessary. American Private Ballentine reported that when the Mexicans attempted to raise the white flag two more times, members of the San Patricios shot and killed them. After brutal close-quarters fighting with bayonets and sabers through the halls and rooms inside

6903-448: The San Patricios were killed or captured in the engagement. The survivors were reformed before the Battle of Mexico City some two weeks later and were stationed at Querétaro where the Mexican government had decamped, with some 50 members serving as a body-guard for the commander-in-chief. The battalion were caught up in the infighting and politicking of Mexico at the time, and were under

7080-435: The San Patricios were traitors, fighting in an unjust attempt by Mexico to reconquer Texas. Successive Mexican presidents have praised the San Patricios ; Vicente Fox Quesada stated that, "The affinities between Ireland and Mexico go back to the first years of our nation, when our country fought to preserve its national sovereignty... Then, a brave group of Irish soldiers... in a heroic gesture, decided to fight against

7257-484: The San Patricios ' as "worthy of the most consummate praise because the men fought with daring bravery." Several Irishmen were awarded the War Cross by the Mexican government for their conduct in that battle, and many received field promotions. Despite their excellent performance in a number of engagements as artillery, the much-reduced San Patricios were ordered to muster a larger infantry battalion , as well as

Saint Patrick's Battalion - Misplaced Pages Continue

7434-526: The San Patricios ' defence at the trials, and members of Mexico's first families visited them in prison. One soldier who claimed he was forced to fight by the Mexicans after he was captured by them, and who subsequently refused to do so, was sentenced to death by firing squad instead of hanging, along with another who was found not to have officially joined the Mexican Army. Most of the convicted San Patricios were sentenced to death by hanging: 30 from

7611-549: The 1848 discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada lured away more. Irish migration to Great Britain has occurred since the early medieval period . The largest waves of Irish migration occurred in the 19th century, when a devastating famine broke out in Ireland, resulting in thousands of Irish immigrants settling down in Britain, primarily in the port cities of Liverpool and Glasgow . Other waves of Irish migration occurred during

7788-481: The 2nd Artillery , the 3rd Artillery , the 4th Artillery , the 2nd Dragoons , the 2nd Infantry , the 3rd Infantry , the 4th Infantry , the 5th Infantry , the 6th Infantry , the 7th Infantry and the 8th Infantry . The San Patricios are honored in both Mexico and Ireland. For those Mexicans who had fought in the Mexican–American War and for generations to come after, the San Patricios were heroes who came to their aid in an hour of need. For Americans,

7965-478: The Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations . Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ; the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and

8142-554: The British armed forces . In the post-war reconstruction era, the numbers of immigrants began to increase, many settling in the larger cities and towns of Britain. According to the 2001 census, around 850,000 people in Britain were born in Ireland. The largest Irish communities in Britain are located predominantly in the cities and towns: in London, in particular Kilburn (which has one of the largest Irish-born communities outside Ireland) out to

8319-525: The British population ). The 2001 UK census states that 869,093 people born in Ireland are living in Great Britain. More than 10% of those born in the United Kingdom have at least one grandparent born in Ireland. The article "More Britons applying for Irish passports" states that 6 million Britons have either an Irish grandfather or grandmother and are thus able to apply for Irish citizenship. Almost

8496-534: The Constitution of Ireland was amended in 1998 to read "[f]urthermore, the Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage." There are people of Irish descent abroad (including Irish speakers ) who reject inclusion in an Irish "diaspora" and who designate their identity in other ways. They may see the diasporic label as something used by

8673-727: The Duchy of Brabant , now in Flanders (northern Belgium). The Flight of the Earls , in 1607, led much of the Gaelic nobility to flee the country, and after the wars of the 17th century many others fled to Spain, France, Austria, and other Roman Catholic lands. The lords and their retainers and supporters joined the armies of these countries, and were known as the Wild Geese . Some of the lords and their descendants rose to high ranks in their adoptive countries, such as

8850-530: The Early Middle Ages , Great Britain and Continental Europe experienced Irish immigration of varying intensity, mostly from clerics and scholars who are collectively known as peregrini . Irish emigration to Western Europe , especially to Great Britain, has continued at a greater or lesser pace since then. Today, the ethnic Irish are the single largest minority group in both England and Scotland, most of whom eventually made it back to Ireland. The dispersal of

9027-526: The Encumbered Estates' Court in 1849 and the removal of existing civil rights and class norms. Any remaining hope for change was squashed by the 1847 death of Daniel O'Connell , the political leader who championed liberal and reform causes and emancipation for Ireland's Catholics, and the failed rising of the Young Irelanders in 1848. More was to be gained by immigrating to America from Ireland, and

SECTION 50

#1732855879734

9204-903: The Irish diaspora then escaping the Great Irish Famine and extremely poor economic conditions in Ireland , which was at the time part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . The U.S. Army often recruited the Irish and other immigrants into military service shortly or sometimes immediately after arrival in America in coffin ships with promises of salaries and land after the war. Numerous theories have been proposed as to their motives for desertion, including cultural alienation, mistreatment of immigrant soldiers by nativist soldiers and senior officers, brutal military discipline and dislike of service in

9381-447: The Philadelphia nativist riots against Irish Catholic immigrants. Catholic churches had been similarly defaced by the American military in Mexico during the war. Additionally, both the Mexicans and the Irish were subjected to racism and xenophobia based on racist pseudo-science and treated as inferior to American nativists. Another hypothesis is that the members of the Saint Patrick's Battalion had been unhappy with their treatment in

9558-413: The Spanish general and politician Leopoldo O'Donnell, 1st Duke of Tetuan , who became the president of the Government of Spain or the French general and politician Patrice de Mac-Mahon, Duke of Magenta , who became the president of the French Republic . The French Cognac brandy maker, Hennessy , was founded by Richard Hennessy , an Irish officer in the Clare Regiment of the Irish Brigade of

9735-452: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)

9912-446: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under

10089-402: The United States . After 1765, emigration from Ireland became a short, relentless and efficiently managed national enterprise. In 1890, 40% of Irish-born people were living abroad. By the 21st century, an estimated 80 million people worldwide claimed some Irish descent, which includes more than 36 million Americans claiming Irish as their primary ethnicity. As recently as the second half of

10266-537: The "liberating army of the North". At the Battle of Buena Vista (known as the battle of Angostura in Mexico) in Coahuila on 23 February, the Patricios became engaged with U.S. forces. They were assigned the three heaviest—18 and 24 pound— cannons the Mexican army possessed, which were positioned on high ground overlooking the battlefield, at the base of a hillside (just below what is now a gravel mine). They were later described as "a strong Mexican battery ... moved ... by dint of extraordinary exertions ... [that] commanded

10443-474: The 150th anniversary of the execution of the San Patricios at a ceremony in Mexico City's San Jacinto Plaza. This is where the U.S. Army conducted the first 16 hangings after the men were convicted of desertion at court martial. Ireland and Mexico jointly issued commemorative postage stamps to mark the anniversary. In 2004, at an official ceremony attended by numerous international dignitaries, including directors Lance and Jason Hool and several actors from

10620-406: The 1880s. Considered by some to be a national hero, William Brown is the most famous Irish citizen in Argentina. Creator of the Argentine Navy ( Armada de la República Argentina , ARA) and leader of the Argentine Armed Forces in the wars against Brazil and Spain, he was born in Foxford , County Mayo on 22 June 1777 and died in Buenos Aires in 1857. The Almirante Brown -class destroyer

10797-437: The 19th and early 20th centuries, over 38,000 Irish immigrated to Argentina . Very distinct Irish communities and schools existed until the Perón era in the 1950s. Today there are an estimated 500,000 people of Irish ancestry in Argentina, approximately 15.5% of the Republic of Ireland's current population; however, these numbers may be far higher, given that many Irish newcomers declared themselves to be British, as Ireland at

SECTION 60

#1732855879734

10974-412: The 19th century, including participants in the ill-fated Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848 , nationalist journalist and politician John Mitchel , and painter and convicted murderer William Burke Kirwan . Alongside English convicts, they were used to build the Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island. Conditions for the convicts were harsh, and discipline was draconian. In April, 1830, convict James Ryan

11151-413: The 19th century, most Irish emigrants spoke Irish as their first language. That had social and cultural consequences for the cultivation of the language abroad, including innovations in journalism. The language continues to be cultivated abroad by a small minority as a literary and social medium. The Irish diaspora are largely assimilated in most countries outside Ireland after World War I . Seán Fleming

11328-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,

11505-406: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it

11682-439: The 20th century, as Irish immigrants escaping poor economic conditions in Ireland following the establishment of the Irish Free State , came to Britain in response to labour shortages. These waves of migration have resulted in millions of British citizens being of Irish descent. An article for The Guardian estimated that as many as six million people living in the United Kingdom have an Irish-born grandparent (around 10% of

11859-400: The 4th's cannons once the crews had been dealt with. As the division got close enough they charged the artillery battery, bayoneting whoever remained and routing the rest, leaving the attached San Patricios free to haul away two six-pound cannons. These cannons would later be used by Mexican forces at the Battle of Contreras . In frustration U.S. Commander Zachary Taylor , referring to

12036-402: The 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in the 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary

12213-538: The Atlantic (a distance of around 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi)) in a two-ton boat. By the following year, one of Bermuda's main islands was named after Ireland . By the mid-17th century, Irish prisoners of war and civilian captives were involuntarily shipped to Bermuda, condemned to indentured servitude . These people had become indentured as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland . The Cromwellian conquest led to Irish captives, from both military and civilian backgrounds, to be sent as indentured servants to

12390-401: The Bermudian colonial government acknowledged the authority of Parliament ) countered the alleged plot with three edicts: The first was that a nightly watch be raised throughout the colony; second, that slaves and the Irish be disarmed of militia weapons; and third, that any gathering of two or more Irish or slaves be dispersed by whipping. There were no arrests, trials or executions connected to

12567-436: The British Army, who possibly arrived in Canada in 1843 whilst serving in the British Army (the assertion that he served as a Sergeant in the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot , is known to be inaccurate) going on to join the U.S. Army in Michigan in September 1845. He deserted in Matamoros in April 1846. Upon meeting Mexican forces he was initially given the Officer rank of Lieutenant by General Pedro de Ampudia . At

12744-714: The Citadel, known as the San Patricio prisoners, will be immediately discharged"— Rogue's March was played upon their release. The Saint Patrick's Battalion continued to function as two infantry companies under the command of John Riley, with one unit tasked with sentry duty in Mexico City and the other was stationed in the suburbs of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The San Patricios were officially mustered out of Mexican military service in 1848; some members were alleged to have been involved in an abortive military coup , while historians have said

12921-639: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish

13098-536: The French Army. In Spain and its territories, many Irish descendants can be found with the name Obregón ( O'Brien , Irish , Ó Briain ), including Madrid-born actress Ana Victoria García Obregón . During the 20th century, certain Irish intellectuals made their homes in continental Europe, particularly James Joyce , and later Samuel Beckett (who became a courier for the French Resistance ). Eoin O'Duffy led

13275-691: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed

13452-565: The Industrial Revolution and, in the case of the first three, the strength of the motor industry in the 1960s and 1970s. The towns of Hebburn , Jarrow and Coatbridge have all earned the nickname 'Little Ireland' due to their high Irish populations. Central to the Irish community in Britain was the community's relationship with the Roman Catholic Church , with which it maintained a strong sense of identity. The Church remains

13629-468: The Irish culture brought by indentured servants from Ireland. Catholicism was outlawed in Bermuda by the colonial authorities, and all islanders were required by law to attend services of the established Anglican church . Some surnames that were common in Bermuda at this period, however, give lingering evidence of the Irish presence. For example, the area to the east of Bailey's Bay , in Hamilton Parish,

13806-498: The Irish diaspora as all persons of Irish nationality who habitually reside outside the island of Ireland. This includes Irish citizens who have emigrated abroad and their children, who are Irish citizens by descent under Irish law . It also includes their grandchildren in cases where they were registered as Irish citizens in the Foreign Births Register held in every Irish diplomatic mission . Under this legal definition,

13983-595: The Irish diaspora is considerably smaller—some 3 million persons, of whom 1.47 million are Irish-born emigrants. Given the island of Ireland's estimated population of 6.8 million in 2018, this is still a large ratio. However, the usage of Irish diaspora is generally not limited by citizenship status, thus leading to an estimated (and fluctuating) membership of up to 80 million persons—the second and more emotive definition. The Irish Government acknowledged this interpretation—although it did not acknowledge any legal obligations to persons in this larger diaspora—when Article 2 of

14160-627: The Irish government for its own purposes. The Irish, who were called by the Romans Scotti but called themselves Gaels , had raided and settled along the West Coast of Roman Britain , and numbers of them were allowed to settle within the province, where the Roman Army recruited many Irish into auxiliary units that were dispatched to the German frontier. The Attacotti , who were similarly recruited into

14337-512: The Irish has been mainly to Britain or to countries colonised by Britain. England's political connection with Ireland began in 1155, when Pope Adrian IV issued a papal bull (known as Laudabiliter ), which gave Henry II permission to invade Ireland as a means of strengthening the papacy's control over the Irish Church. That was followed in 1169 by the Norman invasion of Ireland , which was led by

14514-634: The Irish servants should take care that they straggle not night nor daie as is too common with them. If any masters or dames be remiss hereafter in watching over them, they shall be fyned according to the discretion of the Governor and counsell , and that it shall not be lawfull for any inhabitant in these Islands to buy or purchase any more of the Irish nation upon any pretence whatsoever". In September, 1658, three Irishmen – John Chehen (Shehan, Sheehan, Sheene, or Sheen), David Laragen and Edmund Malony – were lashed for breaking curfew and being suspected of stealing

14691-498: The Mexican cause based on similarities between the situations in Mexico and Ireland. This hypothesis is based on evidence of the number of Irish Catholics in the battalion, the letters of John Riley , and the field entries of senior officers. Irish immigrants had been faced with animosity both as a result of their Catholic faith and ethnicity . Catholic immigrants were regularly met with discrimination from their Protestant peers, sentiments which sometimes boiled over into events such as

14868-441: The Mexican commanders' decision to capitulate and abandon the position. Following the engagement at Monterrey , the San Patricios grew in number, by some estimates reaching an enlistment of over 700 men. Forces re-assembled at San Luis Potosí and they had their distinct green silk flag embroidered there. They then marched northward after joining a larger force commanded by Antonio López de Santa Anna sent from Mexico City,

15045-529: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to

15222-582: The Presidential Affairs Commission amongst other positions. The newspaper continues in print to this day and publishes a beginner's guide to the Irish language , helping Irish Argentines keep in touch with their cultural heritage. Previously to The Southern Cross Dublin-born brothers Edward and Michael Mulhall successfully published The Standard , allegedly the first English-language daily paper in South America. Between 1943 and 1946,

15399-503: The Roman army, may also have been Irish settlers in Britain. The movement between Ireland and the classical Britain may have been two-way as similarities between the medieval accounts of Túathal Techtmar and archaeological evidence indicate that the Romans may have supported the invasion and conquest of Ireland by Irish exiles from Britain with the hope of establishing a friendly ruler who could halt

15576-571: The Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn,

15753-592: The Saint Patrick's Battalion, ordered a squadron of the 1st Dragoons to "take that damned battery". In this task they failed, and, badly bloodied, were forced to retreat. At about 1 p.m. the San Patricios covered a Mexican retreat as a disordered mass of infantry sought refuge during a lull in the fighting. The San Patricios rode out the day in a costly artillery duel with several American batteries, which killed and injured roughly one third of them. General Francisco Mejia's Battle Report for Buena Vista described

15930-472: The Saint Patrick's Battalion; American William W. Carpenter, who found himself in this predicament, stated that: "the reputation of the San Patricio battalion was spread from ocean to ocean, and to that, more than any thing else, do I owe my present safety". The men have continued to be honored and revered as heroes in Mexico. The Batallón de San Patricio is memorialised on two separate days; 12 September,

16107-573: The Saint Patrick's battalion. Meanwhile, deserters were abandoning General Taylor's army on the Rio Grande . Riley and "a company of 48 Irishmen" manned Mexican artillery at the Siege of Fort Texas , which took place concurrently to the two other battles. Martin Tritschler , German Mexican and a Captain at the Battle of Cerro Gordo , is attributed with convincing a large number of German soldiers to defect from

16284-475: The San Patricio Companies " Brown Bess " muskets, and they made up only a fraction of the defending forces. Further hampering Mexican efforts, a stray spark from an artillery piece firing grapeshot at the on-coming U.S. troops caused the just-arrived ammunition to explode and set fire to several men, including Captain O'Leary and Gen. Anaya. A withdrawal behind the walls of the convento de Churubusco

16461-493: The Scottish, African and Native American communities in Bermuda to form a new demographic: the coloureds , which in Bermuda meant anyone not entirely of European descent . In modern-day Bermuda, the term has been replaced by ' Black ', in which wholly sub-Saharan African ancestry is erroneously implicit. The Irish quickly proved hostile to their new conditions in Bermuda, and colonial legislation soon stipulated: that those that hath

16638-661: The Spanish garrison in Florida during the 1560s, and small numbers of Irish colonists were involved in efforts to establish colonies in the Amazon region, in Newfoundland, and in Virginia between 1604 and the 1630s. According to historian Donald Akenson, there were "few if any" Irish being forcibly transported to the New World during this period. The Plantation of Ulster , by the Stuart monarchy of

16815-562: The Tacubaya trial and 18 from San Ángel. The rationale was that they had entered Mexican military service following the declaration of war. Execution by hanging was in violation of the contemporary Articles of War , which stipulated that the penalty for desertion and/or defecting to the enemy during a time of war was death by firing squad , regardless of the circumstances. Hanging was reserved only for spies (without uniform) and for "atrocities against civilians", neither of which activities were among

16992-484: The U.S. Army, all but two by hanging. Collectively, this was the largest mass execution in United States history. (The hanging of 38 Sioux at the conclusion of the Dakota War of 1862 appears to have been the largest execution by hanging at a single event.) En masse executions for treason took place at three separate locations on three separate dates; 16 were executed on 10 September 1847 at San Ángel, four were executed

17169-466: The U.S. Army; this was the conviction of George Ballentine, an Englishman who served in the American army. Ballentine stated that while "there was a portion of truth" in the view—commonly assigned by officers—that the deserters joined the Mexican army due to their Catholicism; he said, "I have good reason to believe, in fact in some cases I know, that harsh and unjust treatment by their officers operated far more strongly than any other consideration to produce

17346-422: The U.S. military, being forced to attend Protestant church services and being unable to practice their Catholic religion freely as well as religious ideological convictions, the incentive of higher wages and land grants starting at 320 acres (1.3 km) offered by Mexico, and viewing the U.S. invasion of Mexico as unjust. It is believed primary motivations were shared religion with the Mexicans and sympathy for

17523-496: The U.S. occupying forces in Puebla, Puebla . The first major engagement of the Saint Patrick's Battalion, as a recognised Mexican unit, was as an artillery battery in the Battle of Monterrey of 21 September 1846. Popularly they were called Los Colorados by the Mexicans because of their ruddy, sun-burnt complexions and red hair color. They were commanded by John Riley , an Irish artilleryman and veteran non-commissioned officer of

17700-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English

17877-592: The United States included religious sympathy, and pursuit of money and land. Preferring to fight with the Catholic Mexicans against the Protestant Americans, the San Patricios were the only group of deserters in American history to band together in the service of a foreign enemy. –Peter Quinn, Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America In 1997, President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo commemorated

18054-693: The West Indies. The Puritan Commonwealth government saw sending indentured servants from Ireland to the Caribbean as both assisting in their conquest of the island (by removing the strongest resistance against their rule) and saving the souls of the Roman Catholic Irish servants by settling them in Protestant-dominated colonies where they would supposedly inevitably convert to the " true faith ". These rapid demographic changes quickly began to alarm

18231-451: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of

18408-474: The army to turn over its records on the battalion to the National Archives . In 1999, MGM cancelled the U.S. distribution of a film depicting the battalion, One Man's Hero . The San Patricios are rarely covered in American education; on the rare occasion that they are mentioned, it is pointed out that they were traitors (if holding US citizenship), and small in number. Reasons given for having abandoned

18585-635: The arsenal in Guadalajara making gun stocks . One former San Patricio , an Irishman, started a military academy teaching "the sword exercise", also in Guadalajara. Others were reportedly killed while travelling through Mexico, while others were reduced to living on handouts. A handful are on record as having made use of the land claims promised them by the Mexican government. Americans in Mexico who had been taken prisoner by Mexico or who were common deserters were known to falsely present themselves as members of

18762-618: The basis of modern Scotland . The traditionally Gaelic -speaking areas of Scotland (the Highlands and Hebrides ) are still referred to in the Gaelic language as a' Ghàidhealtachd ("the Gaeldom"). Irish monks and the Celtic Church engineered a wave of Irish emigration to Great Britain and Continental Europe and were possibly the first inhabitants of the Faroe Islands and Iceland . Throughout

18939-452: The battalion was formed and led by Irishman John Riley . It served as an artillery unit for much of the war, and despite later being formally designated as an infantry unit of two companies , the battalion continued to operate artillery pieces throughout the conflict. The San Patricios participated in many of the bloodiest battles during the American invasion of Mexico, with Ulysses S. Grant remarking that " Churubusco proved to be about

19116-404: The battalion were U.S. citizens . The Mexican government printed propaganda in different languages to entice immigrants serving in the United States Army to switch sides and offered incentives to foreigners who would enlist in its army, including being granted citizenship, being paid higher wages and generous land grants . U.S. Army regiments which had members defect included the 1st Artillery ,

19293-410: The battle of Monterrey the San Patricios proved their artillery skills by causing the deaths of many American soldiers, and they are credited with defeating two to three separate assaults into the heart of the city. Among their targets were companies led by such officers as Braxton Bragg , many of whose soldiers would end up in their own ranks later in the war. Their tenacity, however, did not affect

19470-466: The breakwater, brandishing a poker threateningly. For this, he was ordered to receive punishment (presumably flogging) on Tuesday, 3 July 1849, with the other convicts aboard the hulk assembled behind a rail to witness. When ordered to strip, he hesitated. Thomas Cronin, his older brother, addressed him and, while brandishing a knife, rushed forward to the separating rail. He called out to the other prisoners in Irish and many joined him in attempting to free

19647-430: The carts holding the tied and noosed men pulled away. Harney refused to cut the bodies down, stating that "I was ordered to have them hanged, and have no orders to unhang them". Harney was subsequently promoted to brigadier general, which rank he held while the U.S. Army occupied Mexico City. The Mexican government described the hangings as "a cruel death or horrible torments, improper in a civilized age, and [ironic] for

19824-616: The charges brought against any members of the Saint Patrick's Battalion. Although more than 9,000 U.S. soldiers deserted the army during the Mexican–American War, only the San Patricios (who unlike almost all other deserters had also fought against the United States) were punished by hanging. Those soldiers who had left military service before the official declaration of war on Mexico (Riley among them) were sentenced to "... receive 50 lashes on their bare backs, to be branded with

20001-731: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in

20178-413: The command of Col. William Hoffman . Several U.S. charges towards the bridgehead were thrown off, with the San Patricio companies serving as an example to the supporting battalions. Unlike the San Patricios , most of whom were veterans (many having served in the armies of the United Kingdom and various German states), the supporting Mexican battalions were simply militia (the term 'National Guard'

20355-414: The consequent displacement of the pre-plantation Roman Catholic landholders. As the military and political defeat of Gaelic Ireland became more pronounced in the early 17th century, sectarian conflict became a recurrent theme in Irish history . Roman Catholics and members of dissenting Protestant denominations suffered severe political and economic privations from Penal Laws . The Irish Parliament

20532-495: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it

20709-608: The convent, U.S. Army Captain James M. Smith suggested a surrender after raising his white handkerchief. Following the U.S. victory, the Americans "ventilat[ed] their vocabulary of Saxon expletives, not very "courteously", on Riley and his beautiful disciples of St. Patrick." Gen. Anaya stated in his written battle report that 35 San Patricios were killed, 85 taken prisoner (including a wounded John Riley, Captain O'Leary, and Anaya); about 85 escaped with retreating Mexican forces. Some 60% of

20886-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in

21063-417: The de facto President of Argentina was Edelmiro Farrell , whose paternal ancestry was Irish. Early in its history, Bermuda had reputed connections with Ireland. It has been suggested that St. Brendan discovered it during his legendary voyage; a local psychiatric hospital (since renamed) was named after him. In 1616, an incident occurred in which five white settlers arrived in Ireland, having crossed

21240-481: The defeat at Cerro Gordo. Gen. Santa Anna gave a verbal order to "preserve the point at all risk". The San Patricio Companies initially met the attackers outside the walls of the convent at a tête-de-pont , which was about 500 yards (457 m) from a fortified convent. A battery of three to five heavy cannons were used from this position to hold off the American advance along with support from Los Independencia Batallón and Los Bravos Batallón . The Americans were under

21417-441: The deplorable result [desertion]," and described how he found the punishments used for "trivial offensives" to be "revolting and disgusting". Another theory some historians hold is that the soldiers were attracted by the incentives offered by the Mexican government: safe passage throughout Mexico for deserters, generous land grants, and the offer of potential military commissions. For poor people coming from famine conditions, economics

21594-423: The design of the flag of the Saint Patrick's Battalion. No flags or depictions of them are known to have survived to the present day. The only version of the flag known to have survived the war was subsequently lost or stolen from the chapel at West Point . John Riley, who left an account of the battalion, noted the flag in a letter: In all my letter, I forgot to tell you under what banner we fought so bravely. It

21771-457: The dominant Anglo-Bermudian population, in particular the Irish indentured servants, most of whom were presumed to be secretly practising Catholicism ( recusancy had been outlawed by the colonial government). Relationships between the Anglo-Bermudian community and Irish indentured servants consistently remained hostile, resulting in the Irish responding to ostracism by ultimately merging with

21948-635: The early 17th century, primarily in the lands gained by the Flight of the Earls , with an equal number of loyal Lowland Scots and redundant English Border reivers , caused resentment, as did their transferring of all property owned by the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Ireland , resulting in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 . Following the rebellion's failure the Commonwealth regime began to pacify Ireland, through

22125-400: The entire plateau". They started the battle supporting Mexican infantry by firing on U.S. lines as the Mexicans advanced on them, then later decimating an artillery battery directly opposite them on the battlefield (Washington's 4th Artillery, D Battery). A small number of San Patricios were dispatched with a division commanded by Manuel Lombardini with the express purpose of capturing

22302-452: The film One Man's Hero , the Mexican government gave a commemorative statue to the Irish government in perpetual thanks for the bravery, honor and sacrifice of the Saint Patrick's Battalion. The statue was erected in the town of Clifden , Connemara, Ireland, where leader John Riley was born. Clifden flies the Mexican flag in honor of Riley every year on 12 September. In 2014, Sinn Féin named

22479-515: The first half of the 19th century a third of the Army and Royal Navy were Irish. The Irish still represent a large contingent of foreign volunteers to the British military. Since the 1950s and 1960s in particular, the Irish have become assimilated into the British population. Emigration continued into the next century; over half a million Irish went to Britain in World War II to work in industry and serve in

22656-487: The flagpole at 9.30 a.m. Legend has it that the Mexican flag had been taken by a cadet, Juan Escutia  [ es ] of the Niños Héroes , who leapt with it to his death from Chapultepec Castle to deny the Americans the honor of capturing it. In a final act of defiance, the men about to be hanged cheered the Mexican flag , as one onlooker remarked; "Hands tied, feet tied, their voices still free". At Harney's signal,

22833-517: The following day at the village of Mixcoac on 11 September, and 30 were hanged at Chapultepec on 13 September. One San Patricio was murdered by American soldiers when he was recognised among the prisoners of war in the aftermath of the Battle of Molino del Rey , by being thrown "into a mill flume and crushed by the wheel". At the San Ángel hangings all prisoners were executed without incident except for Patrick Dalton, who, as an American captain described,

23010-661: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with

23187-553: The foreign ground invasion", and Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo stated "Members of the St. Patrick's Battalion were executed for following their consciences. They were martyred for adhering to the highest ideals... we honor their memory. In the name of the people of Mexico, I salute today the people of Ireland and express my eternal gratitude". The great majority of those men who formed Saint Patrick's Battalion were recent immigrants who had arrived at northeastern U.S. ports. They were part of

23364-493: The formation of Celtic Football Club in 1888 by Marist Brother Walfrid , to raise money to help the community. In Edinburgh Hibernian were founded in 1875 and in 1909 another club with Irish links, Dundee United , was formed. Likewise the Irish community in London formed the London Irish rugby union club. The 2001 UK census states in Scotland 50,000 people identified as having Irish heritage. The Irish have maintained

23541-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched

23718-438: The four years of the blight. Kennedy argues that the famine was considered the final straw because it convinced more people to move even though several other factors influenced their decision. By 1900, the population of Ireland was about half of its 1840 peak, and it continued to fall during the 20th century. In the decades that followed independence in the 1920s, emigration accelerated for economic and social reasons, and with

23895-513: The general Richard de Clare , or Strongbow . The English Crown did not attempt to assert full control of the island until after Henry VIII 's repudiation of papal authority over the Church in England , and the subsequent rebellion of the Earl of Kildare in Ireland in 1534 threatened English hegemony there. Until the break with Rome , it was widely believed that Ireland was a papal possession, which

24072-415: The generally accepted anniversary of the executions of those battalion members captured by the U.S. Army, and 17 March, Saint Patrick's Day . Numerous schools, churches and other landmarks in Mexico take their name from the battalion, including: In the U.S., the memory of the battalion has been different. In Winfield Scott's 1852 run for President of the United States , his treatment of the San Patricios

24249-584: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In

24426-527: The greatest in South America . Despite the fact that Argentina was never the main destination for Irish emigrants it does form part of the Irish diaspora. The Irish-Argentine William Bulfin remarked as he travelled around Westmeath in the early 20th century that he came across many locals who had been to Buenos Aires. Several families from Bere island , County Cork were encouraged to send emigrants to Argentina by an islander who had been successful there in

24603-449: The group was disbanded because of Mexican budget cuts. The San Patricios captured by the U.S. Army were treated and punished as traitors for desertion in time of war. Seventy-two men were immediately charged with desertion by the Army. Two separate courts-martial were held, one at Tacubaya on 23 August, and another at San Ángel on 26 August. At neither of these trials were the men represented by lawyers nor were transcripts made of

24780-553: The idea of an Irish diaspora, as distinct from the old identification of Irishness with Ireland itself, was influenced by the perceived advent of global mobility and modernity. Irishness could now be identified with dispersed individuals and groups of Irish descent. But many of those individuals were the product of complex ethnic intermarriage in America and elsewhere, complicating the idea of a single line of descent. "Irishness" might then rely primarily on individual identification with an Irish diaspora. The Government of Ireland defines

24957-561: The island of Ireland . The phenomenon of migration from Ireland is recorded since the Early Middle Ages , but it can be quantified only from around 1700. Since then, between 9 and 10 million people born in Ireland have emigrated. That is more than the population of Ireland itself, which at its historical peak was 8.5 million on the eve of the Great Famine . The poorest of them went to Great Britain , especially Liverpool . Those who could afford it went further, including almost 5 million to

25134-729: The language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of the whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian

25311-479: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,

25488-522: The letter 'D' for deserter, and to wear iron yokes around their necks for the duration of the war." This, too, went against the Articles of War; deserters who left prior to a declaration of war were supposed to be branded, scourged , or sentenced to hard labor. The San Patricios instead received all three punishments, a fate that once again was given to no other deserters during the war. In all, 50 Saint Patrick's Battalion members were officially executed by

25665-686: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has

25842-683: The military forces of Catholic countries, including in European countries after the Williamite War . In the decades leading up to the Mexican-American War many Irish fought in the South American wars of independence . Present in the Mexican Army for the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma were the Legión de Extranjeros (Legion of Foreigners); the men who would later make up the core of

26019-762: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as

26196-550: The patronage of a faction that favored suing for ending of the conflict peacefully. New units were later made up of the free survivors of the battle of Churubusco and a roughly equal number of fresh deserters from the U.S. Army. Following the war, the Mexican Government insisted in a clause of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that the remaining San Patricio prisoners held by the Americans were to be left in Mexico, and Major General William Orlando Butler issued General Orders 116 on 1 June 1848 stating that; "The prisoners confined at

26373-399: The plot, though an Irish woman named Margaret was found to be romantically involved with a Native American; she was voted to be stigmatised and he was whipped. During the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth Centuries, the colony's various demographic groups boiled down to free whites and mostly enslaved "coloured" Bermudians with a homogeneous Anglo-Bermudian culture. Little survived of

26550-463: The population fell by almost 30%. Robert E. Kennedy explains, however, that the common argument that the mass emigration from Ireland was a "flight from famine" is not entirely correct. Firstly, the Irish had been coming to Great Britain to build canals there since the 18th century, and as soon as conditions in Ireland improved, their emigration did not slow down. After the famine ended, the four years that followed it were marked by more emigration than

26727-481: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,

26904-411: The preferred destination switching from the United States to Great Britain, over 500,000 emigrated in the 1950s and 450,000 in the 1980s, and over 3 million Irish citizens resided outside Ireland in 2017. Irish people who still lived in Ireland were subjected to discrimination by Great Britain based on their religion. Evictions increased after the repeal of the British Corn Laws in 1846, the passage of

27081-458: The proceedings. This lack of formal legal advice could account for the fact that several of the men claimed that drunkenness had led them to desert (a common defense in military trials at the time that sometimes led to lighter sentences), and others described how they were forced to join the Mexican Army in some form or another. The majority of the San Patricios either offered no defense or their defenses were not recorded. Wealthy Mexicans came to

27258-421: The raiding of Britain by the Irish, and some historians have also suggested that the Cruthin of the north of Ireland may have been Picts . After the departure of the Roman army, the Irish began increasing their footholds in Britain, with part of the north-West of the island annexed within the Irish kingdom of Dál Riata . In time, the Irish colonies became independent, merged with the Pictish kingdom and formed

27435-454: The sentencing and transporting Irish rebels (known as “tories”), Catholic priests, friars and schoolmasters, to indentured servitude in the Crown's New World colonies . This increased following the Cromwellian invasion of Ireland (1649–1653), of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1653). Cromwell took Irish land both to repay investors who had financed the invasion and as payment for his soldiers, many of whom settled down in Ireland. As

27612-411: The severest battle fought in the valley of Mexico ". Composed primarily of Irish immigrants, the battalion also included German , Canadian , English , French , Italian , Polish , Scottish , Spanish , Swiss and Mexican soldiers, most of whom were Catholic . Several native-born Americans were in the ranks, including fugitive slaves from the Southern United States . Only a few members of

27789-443: The shields of Ireland and Mexico, and the name of their captain, John O'Reilly [ sic ] embroidered in green. Spanish language Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in

27966-431: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that

28143-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,

28320-465: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing

28497-405: The time was still part of the United Kingdom and today their descendants integrated into Argentine society with mixed bloodlines. The modern Irish-Argentine community is composed of some of their descendants, and the total number is estimated at between 500,000 and 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

28674-417: The west and north west of the city, in the large port cities such as Liverpool (which elected the first Irish nationalist members of parliament), Glasgow , Bristol , Sunderland and Portsmouth . Big industrial cities such as Salford , Manchester , Luton , Coventry , Birmingham , Sheffield , Wolverhampton , Cardiff and parts of Newcastle and Nottingham also have large diaspora populations due to

28851-462: The world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which the language is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in

29028-425: Was "literally choked to death". Dalton had previously voiced concerns regarding his treatment. By order of Gen. Winfield Scott , thirty San Patricios were to be executed at Chapultepec in full view of the two armies while they fought the Battle of Chapultepec , at the precise moment that the flag of the U.S. replaced the flag of Mexico atop the citadel. This order was carried out by Col. William Harney . Harney

29205-491: Was abolished in 1801 in the wake of the republican United Irishmen Rebellion , and Ireland became an integral part of a new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Act of Union . The Great Famine , during the 1840s saw a significant number of people flee from the island to all over the world. Between 1841 and 1851, as a result of death and mass emigration, mainly to Great Britain and North America, Ireland's population fell by over 2 million. In Connacht alone,

29382-418: Was also the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and died in 1909). In 1803, Irish poet Thomas Moore arrived in Bermuda, having been appointed registrar to the Admiralty there. Robert Kennedy, born in Cultra , County Down , was the Government of Bermuda 's Colonial Secretary , and was the acting Governor of Bermuda on three occasions (1829, 1830 and 1835–1836). Irish prisoners were again sent to Bermuda in

29559-399: Was brought up by his opponents to sway Irish American voters. The U.S. Army long denied the existence of the Saint Patrick's Battalion, as a cover-up and an attempt to discourage other deserters. In 1915, an inquiry was initiated by U.S. congressmen William Henry Coleman and Frank L. Greene . This resulted in the U.S. Army's admitting its denial of the matter. The U.S. Congress ordered

29736-433: Was called when the threat of being outflanked proved too great. The San Patricios used this battle as a chance to settle old scores with U.S. troops: "The large number of officers killed in the affair was ... ascribed to them, as for the gratification of their revenge they aimed at no other objects during the engagement". At some point during the fighting for the convent, two American officers led fifteen men against

29913-581: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in

30090-446: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language

30267-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")

30444-451: Was granted as a mere fiefdom to the English king and so in 1541, Henry VIII asserted England's claim to Ireland free from the papal overlordship by proclaiming himself King of Ireland . After the Nine Years' War (1594 to 1603), political power rested in the hands of a Protestant Ascendancy minority and was marked by a Crown policy of plantation , which involved the arrival of thousands of English and Scottish Protestant settlers and

30621-413: Was often an important incentive. Mexican author José Raúl Conseco noted that many Irish lived in northern Texas, and were forced to move south due to regional insecurity. Mainly Irish settlers from San Patricio, Texas , had previously sided with Mexican forces against Texan rebels at the Battle of Lipantitlán in the Texan Revolution . Irish expatriates had a long tradition of serving as mercenaries in

30798-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in

30975-472: Was shot and killed during rioting of convicts on Ireland Island. Another five convicts were given death sentences for their parts in the riots, with those of the youngest three being commuted to transportation (to Australia ) for life. In June 1849 convict James Cronin , on the hulk Medway at Ireland Island, was placed in solitary confinement from the 25th to the 29th for fighting. On release, and being returned to work, he refused to be cross-ironed. He ran onto

31152-404: Was taunted and jeered by the condemned men. While overseeing the hangings, Harney ordered Francis O'Connor hanged although he had had both legs amputated the previous day. When the army surgeon informed the colonel that the absent soldier had lost both his legs in battle, Harney replied: "Bring the damned son of a bitch out! My order was to hang 30 and by God I'll do it!" The U.S. flag appeared on

31329-416: Was that glorious Emblem of native rights, that being the banner which should have floated over our native Soil many years ago, it was St. Patrick, the Harp of Erin , the Shamrock upon a green field. According to George Wilkins Kendall , an American journalist covering the war with Mexico: The banner is of green silk, and on one side is a harp, surmounted by the Mexican coat of arms, with a scroll on which

#733266