[Transcript]

Once upon a time, there was a family from Europe who got on a boat. A husband and wife, seeking for better shores, rode for weeks to get to the promised land of South America. There, they hoped to build a better life.

In fact, the woman was pregnant! But… what she would never imagine, was that her baby was going to be born on the boat! The first land that baby would ever see was the soil of the recently founded Republic of Argentina.

Welcome to Further Records, the podcast where you can stay One Step Ahead of Your English practice. I'm your host, Forest.

Tales like the one you just heard were pretty common back in the day.

Let's be honest. Everybody has a story of immigration in their family tree. Humanity has taken to new sights and territories for thousands of years! In Argentina, a large part of the population has immigrant grandparents

Nearly three million Italian immigrants came to Argentina in the late 19th century. But did you know that Argentina has a pretty big history with Irish immigration?

In the 19th century, around forty thousand immigrants from Ireland arrived in Argentina in search of a better quality of life, and many of them decided to settle in places like Buenos Aires City, Córdoba and Santa Rosa, La Pampa.

Many Irishmen and women sought to make the shores of the La Plata river into their new homes. Settlements were formed, families were raised, farms were… farmed! The whole thing, it was a huge boom in population!

Until… the end of the century. Let’s go all the way back to 1889. In those times, an Irish Archbishop published in the newspaper:

“Buenos Aires is a most cosmopolitan city into which the Revolution (...) has brought the scum of Europe(...).

I most solemnly conjure my poorer countrymen(...) never to set foot on the Argentine Republic however tempted to do so they may be by offers of a passage or an assurance of comfortable homes.”

That publication was already pretty depressing to say about our country. But then, the Dresden Affair happened. At that time, some 2000 Irish immigrants were aboard the ship named City of Dresden. Most of them unfortunately died along the way, leaving very few survivors. Some of them were children, who were left to fend for themselves on the streets of Buenos Aires. And to make things worse, everybody's luggage was completely lost, leaving them with no possessions. And it that point, farmland was increasingly worse for them.

Those who survived went back to Ireland, and the fate of most of the 1772 immigrants remains a mystery to this day. These things effectively ended any new Irish settlements in Argentina.

But, the good news is that those who remained prospered very much!

So much so that Ireland decided to open their first South American embassy right here in Argentina!

As a matter of fact, we have many famous Irish-Argentines in our history, such as: William Brown also known “Almirante Brown”, head and founder of the Argentinian Navy, and Cecilia Grierson, the first female doctor in Argentina.

These and many other Irish folk settled and became rooted in their new home. Nowadays most Irish-Argentines are fourth and fifth generation descendants. And we’ve all heard of Saint Patrick’s Day from TV shows or movies, but isn’t it so cool that we celebrate it right here in Argentina as well?

Last year, over 10,000 people partied in honor of Irish heritage. It’s a testament to how truly influential the Irish and the Argentinians have been in each other’s cultures.

All of them have a little four leaf clover placed right next to their heart.

You’ve been listening to Further Records, a podcast by Further Corporate.

In this episode, we used certain phrases associated with today’s topic! Have you heard of these before?

• Seeking better shores: This is a phrase used for people who are seeking a better quality of life by changing their circumstances. It used to literally be seeking better shores by boat, but now it’s just a figure of speech.
• Settlement: A place where a group of people settles. That is to say, they stay and try to make their lives in that place.
• To become rooted: This means that a person has gotten so comfortable that they are firm in their position. Like a tree that has grown roots, they do not wish to move.
• Once upon a time: A typical phrase that is used at the beginning of fairy tales
• Let's be honest: A phrase used for when you want to speak without limitations
• All the way back: A phrase that refers to a long time ago in the past
• To make things worse: A phrase that is used when you were already talking about something negative, and then there's something else negative
• As a matter of fact: A phrase used to replace "actually", for when you want to explain something exact.

To keep boosting your English journey, you listen to more of our episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’re also on YouTube, it’s Further Corporate!

If there’s any other topic you’d like to know more about, send us a message on instagram! It’s @furtherlanguges.

See you next time!

Music and SFX:

Himno Nacional Argentino from El Cancionero Patrio (https://elcancioneropatrio.com/)

Music: https://www.purple-planet.com



“Celtic Impulse” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Music: Savour The Moment by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com