The year 1843 is memorable for the arrival of Rev. Anthony Fahy, with
whose name the advancement of the Irish in Argentina will be forever
identified. This great patriarch was born at Loughrea, Co. Galway, in
1804, and made his ecclesiastical studies at St. Clement's convent of
Irish Dominicans at Rome. Being sent to the western states of
America, he passed ten years in Ohio and Kentucky, after which, on
the invitation of the Irish community of Buenos Ayres and by
permission of the superior of his Order, he came to the river Plate
at a time when the prospects of the country and of the Irish
residents were far from promising. The history of the Irish community
since that time is in some measure a recital of the labors of Father
Fahy. He it was who helped his countrymen to choose and buy their
lands which now are of such enormous value. Their increasing numbers
and prosperity in the camp districts obliged him to endow each of the
provincial _partidos_ was a resident chaplain. Most of these
clergymen were educated in Dublin, and soon showed their zeal not
merely in religious, but also in social spheres. Irish reading-rooms,
libraries, and schools sprang up and laid the foundation for the
refined Irish life of the present day in those districts. Among other
services, Father Fahy founded the Irish convent, bringing out some
Sisters of Mercy under Mrs. Mary Evangelist Fitzpatrick from Dublin,
to whom he gave it in charge. Father Fahy died in harness in 1871 of
yellow fever; he attended a poor Italian woman and on returning home
was at once taken ill. He lasted only three days and expired
peacefully, a martyr to his sacred calling. He died so poor that Mr.
Armstrong had to discharge for him some small debts, and five others
of his countrymen paid his funeral expenses. A fitting memorial of
the deceased priest, the Fahy College for Irish orphan boys in
Argentina, has been erected in Buenos Ayres, and a magnificent
monument of Irish marble, carved in Ireland, also perpetuates his
fame.
The priests, still living, who were co-workers with Father Fahy and
appointed by him to various _partidos_, are Monsignor Samuel
O'Reilly, deservedly beloved by his parishioners, and the Rev. Father
Flannery, whose appointment to San Pedro brought a great influx of
Irish farmers into that district. Among those who have gone to enjoy
their eternal reward are the brothers, Rev. Michael and Rev. John
Leahy, both of whom were indefatigable during the yellow fever in
Buenos Ayres. Rev. Father Mulleady, Rev. Patrick Lynch, Rev. James
Curran, and Monsignor Curley were also among the Irish priests of
that time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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