1847 is known as one of the worst years of Ireland’s history, with the great number of victims of the so called ‘Great Famine’ perishing during the harsh conditions of that winter, with many emigrating and drowning at sea in the effort to do so.
‘Black 47’ as it came to be known at home, also saw Irishmen abroad suffering for their ethno religious identity, leading to Irish Catholics being the victims of the greatest mass execution in the history of the United States of America.
The USA was not at this time the entity that John F. Kennedy eventually managed to become President of, with prominent Catholics in every city and state, instead it was a primarily Anglo Protestant nativist culture which could often be hostile to the waves of peasant Irish Catholics arriving at its shores in large numbers.
This happened to coincide with antagonism towards another Catholic peoples, the Mexicans. In an effort to annex Texas, the United States under President James Polk went to war with Mexico, enlisting tens of thousands of immigrants to bolster the army, including Irish Catholics. Ulysses S. Grant would later say of the war:
For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker nation.
Despite the good pay from the American army, some Irish Catholics quickly recognised the similarities of this struggle with their own one back home. One particular individual who saw this was John Riley, an Irish emigrant who had served and excelled in both the British and American armies. Almost as soon as war was declared, Riley defected to fight alongside his Mexican Catholic brothers. He took with him many other Irish and his own military expertise, together their battalion became known as the ‘San Patricios’, or ‘Saint Patrick’s’ Battalion.
One Mexican commander evoked Irish Catholicism as a means of appealing to potential soldiers, General Lopez De Santa Anna wrote:
The Mexican nation only looks upon you as some deceived foreigners, and hereby stretch out to you a friendly hand, offer you the felicity and fertility of their territory
Can you fight by the side of those who put fire to your temples in Boston and Philadelphia?... If you are Catholics, the same as we, if you follow the doctrines of our Saviour, why are you seen, sword in hand, murdering your brethren, why are you the antagonists of those who defend their country and your own God? You will be received under the laws of that truly Christian hospitality and good faith which Irish guests are entitled to expect and obtain from a Catholic nation
The Boston and Philadelphia ‘temples’ referred to were incidents where Anglo Protestant nativists set a number of churches and convents on fire in the previous year.
The numbers of San Patricios grew even more steady after the Battle of Monterrey, in which the American army had prepared to shell the city Cathedral.
Though small in number, their expertise was significant in the Mexican efforts, which were ultimately in vain. General Santa Anna stated that having an army composed of similar soldiers could’ve won the war. After being captured in August 1847, dozens of San Patricios faced execution. Riley escaped execution because his desertion had occurred prior to the official declaration of war. Instead, he was brutally beaten as punishment.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins with his Mexican counterpart at the memorial to the San Patricios.
Others were not so fortunate.
Between 10th and 13th September 1847, 50 men were executed. 30 were hanged on 13th September, making it the largest mass execution in United States history.
This fight was a type of precursor to the 20th Century Cristero War, where the Anglo Protestant forces of Freemasonry and the Ku Klux Klan duelled with the Knights of Columbanus (many of them Irish) and the Catholic Cristeros of Mexico.
Their battle cry could have easily been that of the San Patricios:
The Virgin Mary is our protector and defender when there is to fear
She will vanquish all demons at the cry of "Long live Christ the King!"
Soldiers of Christ: Let's follow the flag, for the cross points to the army of God!
Let's follow the flag at the cry of "Long live Christ the King!"
