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Happy Día de San Patricio!
The Chieftans, the best-know Irish traditional band, has a long history of transcending that tradition and looking at music from elsewhere in the Celtic World and at Irish influences in other cultures. This year, they have released a new album devoted to the story of the San Patricios.
I first became aware of the San Patricios twenty-three years ago when I was looking over across the Rio Grande at Mexico from Brownsville, Texas. A small sign said that this was the place where Irish soldiers in the American army during the war with Mexico had switched sides.
The story goes, that these men, recruited off the immigrant boats, had gone to Texas to defend the United States, but had found that the U.S. was actually invading Mexico! They weren’t alone in their dismay. Lincoln gave a speech in Congress attacking what he called governmental lies about the war, and U.S. Grant later decried the war. The Irish who deserted formed the San Patricio Battalion of the Mexican army. Many were later hanged by the Americans. Click the NPR program below to listen to the story of the Chieftans’ new album.
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