An Emigrant's Tale: The Ballad Of The Irish Don Juan

Don Juan O'Brien left Baltinglass in 1811 as plain old John O'Brien, earning his new moniker in Buenos Aires, not due to disproportionate amorous exploits, but from the city-dwellers propensity to localise everyone's name, making even an Irishman from Wicklow sound exotic.

Emigration was common in Ireland; some left to find work, some to escape a criminal charge, and some to avoid the terror of deportation to Australia. Many left to escape religious persecution, others to raise an army...