An early 1570 map of Ireland shows Brazil as a small island off our west coast and, while we know today this was a myth, our connections to the South American nation maybe stronger than you think,
writes Eamon Ó Buadhacháin.

 

After spending a vacation in Salvador, capital city of the Bahia province, I discovered the Irish connection is a lasting one. Salvador today is a thriving city with beautiful beaches and a population of almost three million. It is considered the first capital of Brazil, before the Government services were moved to Rio De Janeiro in 1640 and later to the current capital Brasilia.

Today 75,000 in Brazil claim Irish heritage. The first known Irishman was Limerick-born Thomas Field, who arrived as a Jesuit in 1577 and was ordained in Salvador. The first recorded St. Patrick’s Day celebration was in

1770 when Dublin-born local plantation owner Lancelot Belfort opened a chapel on his property dedicated to the Irish saint. The Belfort family were originally from County Meath.

In 1822, Dom Pedro, later known as the Emperor of Brazil, declared independence from Portugal. His greatest supporter was José Bonifácio, described as the ‘Patriarch of Independence’. By his side was his wife, Cork-born Emilia O’Leary. She married her husband in Portugal after moving there with an aunt when she was orphaned.

Despite Portugal’s recognition, the new state found itself immediately at war with Argentina over the disputed area known as ‘Banda Oriental’. While Argentina were winning the land battle of the Cisplatine War, Brazil’s navy heavily defeated their southern counterparts, who were led by Mayo-born Admiral William Brown.

The Emperor despatched Bandon-born William Cotter to his native land to find recruits for his army. Cotter, a veteran of the Peninsula War between Spain and Portugal, arrived in Cork in October 1826, immediately advertising locally and on church gates seeking volunteers for a new life of farming and wealth with no mention of military service, just a militia to protect their properties from attack by indigenous people.

He also advertised ‘good pipers’ to travel and entertain the emigrants as they made the two-to-three-month voyage. By the latter part of 1827, ten ships left Cobh carrying 2,450 men, 335 women, 123 young adults and 230 children to their new home in Brazil. The ships were, the Retrieve, Combatant, Eliza, Arturus, Clarence, Edward, Promise, Charlotte Maria, Euphrates and the Camden.

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own