Paisanos by Tim Fanning

Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Niall Burgess, launched a new book by Tim Fanning at Iveagh House yesterday evening, Wednesday, 31 August.

Tim Fanning launched his new book, Paisanos: The Forgotten Irish Who Changed the Face of Latin America at The Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Iveagh House yesterday evening, Wednesday 31 August at 7pm.

Paisanos was launched by Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Niall Burgess. Other speakers at the event included Conor McEnroy and CEO of the Abbeyfield Group, Michael Lillis of Avolon. Justin Harman, the Irish Ambassador to Argentina was also in attendance.

An important and necessary volume on the role played by Irish men and women in the emergence of the new, modern and independent republics of Latin America… a welcome contribution to the literature on the history of our exiles and their descendants, this is an exciting and accessible book that is a pleasure to read.’ From the foreword by Michael D. Higgins.

In Paisanos, Tim Fanning, an exciting new voice in Irish historiography, uncovers the extraordinary tales of romance, adventure, war and rebellion of the forgotten Irish men and women who changed the face of Latin America forever.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, thousands of Irish men and women arrived in Mexico and South America lured by the promise of adventure, fame and fortune. They were soldiers, spies, sailors, merchants and diplomats, and they and their children fought for independence and helped shape modern Latin America. Today, the names of streets, towns, schools, and football teams on the continent bear witness to their influence.

Paisanos features the stories of armed revolutionaries such as William Brown and Bernardo O’Higgins, and trailblazing women like Camila O’Gorman and Eliza Lynch (the County Cork woman who became the mistress of the Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano López. Reviled by Paraguay’s enemies for her role in the War of the Triple Alliance, Lynch became a national heroine). Fanning also documents the rise of Ambrose O’Higgins, a Sligo-born clerk who went on to hold the most powerful and prestigious office in Spanish America, The Viceroy of Peru.

This is the story of how they and many others helped fashion the New World and sowed the seeds of Ireland’s revolutions to follow.
Paisanos is available to order here on our website and in all good book shops from Friday September 2nd.

About the author:

Tim Fanning is an author and researcher based in Dublin. In addition to working for a number of Irish and Spanish publications, he is the author of The Fethard-On-Sea Boycott (2010).

Check out some of the highlights from the launch below and view the full album on Facebook.