John McKenna (known locally as “Juan Mackenna”)arrived in Chile in 1796 after being referred to Ambrose O’Higgins with letters of recommendation following training and serving with the Irish Brigade in Spain. This had been arranged by the high-ranking Irish military officer Count Alexander “Alejandro” O’Reilly, an uncle of his who served in the Spanish Army and himself went on to become the "father of the Puerto Rican militia" and Governor of the then Spanish Louisiana.

McKenna was summoned to Peru in 1797 by O'Higgins who nominated him Governor of Osorno and charged him with its reconstruction. During his mandate as governor, he built many roads (including the road form Osorno to Puerto
Montt) bridges, schools, factories and mills throughout southern Chile, where a great deal of Chile's Irish community remains today. His administration was successful, much to the envy of Chile’s Captain-general Gabriel de Avilés, who was dubious about the importation of Irish workers to the region.

In 1809, Avilés, now himself viceroy of Peru following the death of O’Higgins, relieved him of his duties as governor. McKenna later married a local lady from a pro-independence family and with the Declaration of Chilean Independence in 1810, threw his lot in with the rebels.

Although originally on the payroll of the Spanish Crown, by this time McKenna had already had contact in Europe and South America with, and joined, the “Lautaro Lodge”(a shadowy and mysterious Masonic secret society formed in Europe dedicated to the overthrow of Spanish rule in Latin
America) through its members Jose de San Martin, the future liberator of Argentina whom he met in France, Bernardo O’Higgins, the Chilean-born son of Ambrosio O’Higgins and future Liberator of Chile with whom he had also formed a close friendship, and Francisco de Miranda, the Lodge’s founder. We shall read about McKenna's vital role in the war of independence below.

Furthermore, during an endeavour to regenerate the city of Osorno, Ambrosio O’Higgins also sent for various Irish tradesman and artisans. A total of 26 arrived in September and November 1798 alone (a year of particular rebellion, political unrest and social upheaval in Ireland). The idea was to refound the city with local Indians and Criollos being trained by Irish immigrants in various trades to boost the local economy. Unfortunately, the project failed due to a lack of effort on the part of the Chileans and a devastating fondness for drinking on the part of the Irish, and Osorno remained in poor economic health until it was eventually regenerated by the later arrival  of a wave of German immigrants.

The Irish and the Chilean War of Independence

Bernardo O’Higgins was the locally-born illegitimate son of Ambrosio O’Higgins and Isabel Riquelme, a criolla from a prominent family of Basque origin in Chillán. He was a leader in the Chilean war of independence and is considered the “Founding Father of Chile”.

He grew up in southern Chile, but was later sent to Lima and then London to study. It was there that he first became attracted to independence movements in Latin America, and joined the Masonic Lautaro Lodge. His father died in 1801, acknowledging his paternity on his deathbed and leaving him land near Los Angeles. Shortly afterwards, O’Higgins returned to Chile and began the life of the local landed gentry. He was later elected to the local council.
O’Higgins joined the revolt against the Spanish government and pushed for the formation of a national junta to govern Chile autonomously, and was elected as a representative.

However, the independence movement was deeply divided along political and family lines. His rivals, the Carrera brothers seized power on various occasions in different coups, and rivalry between the two factions grew and O’Higgins was initially only appointed to a minor military position (although he had received relatively little formal training, he had been instructed militarily by Juan Mackenna, mainly on cavalry use).

In 1813, the Spanish sent an expedition under General Antonio Pareja to retake Chile. On hearing of the upcoming invasion, he prepared his militia for battle and defeated the Spanish Royalist forces at Linares, resulting in his promotion to Colonel. O’Higgins was renowned for his bravery on the battlefield and during the Battle of El Roble, he took command after Jose Miguel Carrera retreated, and despite being injured, endeavoured to pursue the fleeing royalists, giving one of his most famed battle cries: “Lads!
Live with honour, or die with glory! He who is brave, follow me!”

For his courage, the junta in Santiago passed the military command to O’Higgins from Carrera, who had fled the battlefield and was subsequently captured by Spanish forces. O’Higgins then appointed Mackenna as Commander General.  A short time later, Carrera escaped, and on return to Santiago, overthrew the junta in another coup out of opposition to O’Higgins’
appointment and sent Mackenna into exile.

O’Higgins and the Carreras later even fought each other on the battlefield, but temporarily buried the hatchet with the news that Spanish forces under General Mariano Osorio were advancing on the capital from Concepción.

O’Higgins rode south to reinforce Luis and Juan José Carrera to try to repel the invasion near Rancagua, while Jose Miguel Carrera stayed put in Santiago. A detachment led by Juan José was guarding the entrance to the city. On sight of the massive royalist army, they fled into the town to make their stand there. Luis went back to Santiago. O’Higgins chose to reinforce Juan José in the city. The rebels were greatly outnumbered and routed, and José Miguel Carrera refused to send desperately needed reinforcements during the battle and left them to their fate. At one point, Luis Carrera was seen returning to the city with his troops, but suddenly retreated at the last moment. O’Higgins managed to escape with a few of his men and fled to Santiago.

For more information about the Battle, take our Battle of Rancagua Historical Walking Tour.

After the Battle of Rancagua, the feud between the Carreras and O’Higgins literally reached murderous proportions. O’Higgins discovered that Jose Miguel Carrera had given the order for Luis to retreat. Carrera claimed that an attack would have been easily driven off, as Luís Carrera’s men had been mostly unskilled and poorly armed militia. O’Higgins didn’t accept it and was furious.

O’Higgins, the Carreras and Manuel Rodríguez and other rebels went into exile in Mendoza, Argentina. There, they were received by José San Martin.

Like O’Higgins, Mackenna, Simón Bolívar and many other independence figures all over Latin America, San Martín was a fellow member of The Lautaro Lodge, and O’Higgins was welcomed. The Carreras were not so welcome. They were a thorn in the side of the Lautaro Lodge for their purely Chilean goals of liberation as opposed to the Lodge’s more Pan-American focus, and allegedly, San Martin saw José Miguel was a potential rival. O’Higgins, José Miguel’s rival, enjoyed a protection and influence in the lodge that the Carreras didn’t and the Carreras were forced to flee to Buenos Aires where they plotted against O’Higgins. All three were later arrested on various charges and sentenced to death by officials, all of whom were members of the Lodge.

In 1817, O’Higgins and San Martín returned to Chile in a renewed effort to drive the Spanish out. They were victorious at the Battle of Chacabuco. They were not so fortunate in their next battle at Cancha Rayada, however, but overall victory was finally consolidated at the Battle of Maipú. O’Higgins was then given the title, position and power of Supreme Director of Chile.

He ruled for six years, during which he founded the military academy and navy. He also proposed liberal and democratic reform and sought to abolish aristocracy which was not well received by the powerful criollo landlords.

He had also offended the Catholic Church and these actions lost him the support of Chile’s businessmen.  An earthquake and financial hardships in the country further complicated his government and a new constitution introduced in 1822 proved unpopular.

In 1823, he was deposed in a coup led by his former closest ally and comrade at the Battle of Rancagua, Ramón Freire. He later went into exile to Peru where he remained for the rest of his life. He died of cardiac complications in 1842 at the age of 64, ironically as he was making plans to return to Chile.

There is a statue of him today in the central plaza of Rancagua, commemorating his heroic charge through a Spanish blockade during the Battle there. There is also a monument to him in Dublin, Ireland.

Juan Mackenna

Mackenna, who had been a close friend to his father, was now a confidant of Bernardo O’Higgins, and is accepted to have been the real military genius behind Bernardo O’Higgins campaign successes during the War of Independence.

Following Chile’s 1810 declaration of Independence, he joined the Patriot Army and was tasked by the first Chilean government with preparing the country’s defences and the Chilean army’s equipment. He also created and trained the Chilean Army’s Corps of Military Engineers. The following year he was called to the defence committee of the new Republic of Chile, and in 1811 was appointed governor of Valparaíso.

However, due to the litany of internal coups and purges within the fledgling government, he would spend the next few years alternating between prestigious military positions and pariah status as a political prisoner or exile according to who had temporarily gained the upper hand at the time. Mackenna was a staunch ally of Bernardo O’Higgins, as he had been to his father before him and was also a fellow member of the Lautaro Lodge. This put him at odds with the Carrera brothers, who were bitter political rivals of O’Higgins and had already crossed swords with the Lodge. As a result of political infighting with José Miguel Carrera and his brothers who had taken power, Juan Mackenna was removed from his position and taken prisoner to be placed under house arrest, confined to the estate of his wife’s family for two years.

Once O’Higgins put an end to José Miguel Carrera’s brief dictatorship and re-established his power base, he appointed Mackenna as Major-Chief-of-State and sent him south to fight the General Antonio Pareja and his pro-Spanish Royalist army. There, he fought and distinguished himself in various battles, the most noteworthy of which was the Battle of Membrillar in 1814, a major victory for the Chileans, which temporarily all but wiped out the royal forces. In recognition of this historic feat, he was promoted to Brigadier General and Commander-General of the Forces of Santiago by Bernardo O'Higgins.

Unfortunately, another Carrera smash-and-grab for power in the form of a coup d’état (this time instigated by Luis Carrera) led to his being banished to exile in Argentina in the same year.  He was killed in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1814 by Luis Carrera himself in a shotgun duel (for which the Lautaro Lodge later exacted revenge by having all three of the Carrera brothers executed). Luis Carrera’s sidekick in the incident was fellow Irishman Admiral William “Guillermo” Brown, “Father of the Argentine Navy”
and a national hero of Argentina, although the circumstances of his involvement remain unclear.

Charles Maria O'Carroll (Carlos María O’Carrol)

Like many of his compatriots in Chile, O'Carroll was of the Irish nobility. He was a Commanding Officer who had trained in England and distinguished himself on the battlefield in Spain and France  during the Napoleonic wars, where he reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel by his mid-twenties and was decorated with the with the Flor de Lis  and the Carlos III Cross.

He arrived in Chile at the behest of Lord Cochrane in May 1818, where he was promoted to the rank of Colonel. He was put in charge of the newly-formed "Dragones de la Patria" Squadron of Curicó in April 1819 to fight in the Guerra a muerte; the pursuit of the remnants and isolated bands of Royalist soldiers, guerrilleros and allied Mapuche Indians who had taken advantage of the ensuing chaos caused by the war to pillage the countryside and engage in banditry as little more than common criminals.

The Irish in Argentina

In addition to the above, there were also Irishmen originally based in Argentina who joined the Liberation “Army of the Andes” and fought the Royalists under San Martín at the battle of Maipú. These included Dr John Oughan who tended to San Martín’s forces in northern Argentina and Chile, and John Thomond O’Brien.

O’Brien was from Baltinglass, County Wicklow but he left for Argentina in 1812. In 1816 he enlisted in San Martín's mounted grenadiers’ regiment of the Andes army to fight for the liberation of Chile. Following the battle of Chacabuco he rose to rank of captain and was appointed aide-de-camp to San Martín. He fought in the battles of Cancha Rayada and Maipú, and the follow up campaigns in southern Chile. He was then given leave to visit Ireland, but died in Lisbon whilst on his way back to Chile. He later had an Oberon class submarine in the Chilean naval fleet called after him.

Estanislao Lynch was an Irish-Argentine Colonel who helped liberate Argentina from Spanish rule before joining the Army of the Andes. Following the campaign he settled permanently in Chile. He was a grandson of Patrick Lynch, an emigrant from Galway to Buenos Aires in the 1740s (another of Patrick Lynch’s illustrious descendants was his great-great-great-great grandson, Ernesto “Che” Guevara Lynch, the famous Argentine revolutionary).

Estanislao married a local woman and their son Patricio became a highly distinguished naval officer in the War of the Pacific with Bolivia and Peru.

Post Independence Immigration

Post-Independence immigration was more sporadic. Catholic emancipation in the British colonies and the independence of the USA saw English-speaking countries in North America, Australia and New Zealand and even England itself soon prevail as more viable and enticing opportunities and the flow of Irish emigrants then shifted towards these countries instead. Also, with Chile’s independence all but fully consolidated, the quintessential Irish immigrant to Chile-the Catholic aristocrat turned refugee and Spanish-trained military official in the service of the Spanish crown-quickly became a dying breed.

Nonetheless, Irishmen continued to arrive, albeit in smaller numbers. Many arrived in Chile working for the “informal” British Empire, which had taken a strong foothold in Chile with the influence and trade brought by British immigrants, particularly in the Pacific port of Valparaiso. Others arrived with the development and expansion of the nitrate trade, but there were also businessmen, mining industrialists in the north and sheep-farmers in Patagonia, as well as teachers, missionaries and physicians.

The Irish Community in Chile today

Many Irish Chileans today are sheep farmers in the Magallanes Region, and Punta Arenas has a large Irish foundation first established in the 18th century. Irish-Chileans have also featured prominently in politics, arts, entertainment & literature, and of course, the military.

Regrettably, despite the Irish surnames and thus Irish origins of many of the victims of South American dictatorships, Irish governments and their diplomatic and consular services, misinterpreting the key Irish foreign policies of diplomacy and neutrality, shamefully failed to speak out or protect their descendants in Chile and Argentina during “the dirty wars” and “disappearances”, despite many other European governments voicing their concern and opposition. Ireland did, however, accept a limited number of Chilean refugees in 1974.

Nonetheless, the history of the Irish in Chile has of course influenced relations between the two countries. There is a monument to Bernardo O’Higgins in Dublin and Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, revered historian and grandson of Juan Mackenna himself visited Ireland, as did another Chilean direct descendant of his Luis Valentín Mackenna, who personally presented a museum in County Monaghan with a bust of Juan Mackenna. In 2010, for Chile’s bicentenary, the Irish postal service issued postal stamps commemorating O’Higgins and Mackenna.