(Edited and updated from an article in Celtic Life International)
Havana, the fascinating UNESCO heritage site has drawn
visitors from all over the world intrigued by the interesting history and
architecture of Cuba’s capital. As journalist Maria Watson reports, this tour –
which starts at the Capitolio and ends at Café O’Reilly – offers a glimpse of
the shared history of the two island nations of Ireland and Cuba.
Behind the Capitolio, to the west and near the entrance to
Havana’s China Town is a curious collection of rusting locomotives, too heavy
to easily move. They remain there as a testament to the original usage of the
Capitolio site as the Villanueva Railway Station. Irish labourers were
contracted to help build Cuba’s first railroads alongside other poorly paid
bonded workers. The brutal working conditions and insufficient food sparked a
strike lead by the Irish and Canary Islander workers which was violently
suppressed. Upon completion of their employment, those that survived (as many
died of hunger and exhaustion) found themselves abandoned without resources to leave
Cuba. More information about the
building of Cuba’s railways and restored locomotives can be viewed at the
Havana Rail Museum, at the Cristina Station which replaced the Villanueva
Station in 1912.
To the east if the Capitolio is Parque Central . The
magnificent building overlooking the west side of the park is the Great Theatre
of Havana built in 1915 as the Palacio del Centro Gallego (Palace of the
Galician Centre). Directly across is the
equally impressive National Museum of Fine Arts
built in 1927 as the Havana Palacio del Centro Asturiano (Palace of the
Asturian Centre). The nations of Asturias and Galicia, now part of Northern
Spain, are considered celtic. The
grandeur of these two buildings and their important location in the heart of
Havana demonstrates the influence these immigrants had in shaping the island’s
future. The surname Castro is of
Galician origin. Recent genetic tests of
the people of Northern Spain show links to the Irish and the other celtic
cousins of the Atlantic rim nations.
The tradition of folk music and dance from Asturias and Galicia was
exported to Spanish colony of Cuba. The gaita is a Spanish bagpipe and today in
Havana there are many gaita players and dance groups which preserve the
tradition of their celtic ancestors.
Near Parque Central is the Hotel Telegrafo, the blue and
white hotel at the corner of Paseo de Prado and Neptuno where Irishman Ed
Donovan moved the furnishings and contents of his entire bar from Newark, New
Jersey when prohibition shut down all the drinking establishments. Prohibition was a boon for the entrepreneurs
of the liquor, beer and wine trade in Cuba.
Donovan wasn’t he only Irishman to move his bar. Another Irish- American
Pat Cody moved his popular New York saloon, Jigg’s Uptown Bar and reopened at
Lutz and San Pedro in Havana as a club and eatery called Maggie’s Bar and Jiggs
Café. It is said that on Pat Cody’s
birthday all the drinks were free. The walk continues northward on the
tree-lined Prado, an elegant promenade guarded by lion statues cast from the
metal of old cannons. Turn right on
Trocedero and walk eastward. You will see the entrance of the Sevilla Hotel,
the setting for the 1959 movie “Our Man in Havana” filmed shortly after the Cuban
Revolution. The hotel was purchased by
Canadian John McEntee Bowman and re-opened as the Sevilla-Biltmore.
It was operated by Irish-American Charles Francis Flynn. The
hotel has a fascinating history replete with gangsters, glamorous socialites,
famous actors and actresses. The hotel
was a favorite hang-out for members of organized crime who controlled much of
the city’s gambling and nightclubs. These establishments catered mostly to
Americans. Ambitious plans to raze much
of Havana’s historical areas to build new hotels and casinos were thwarted by
the revolution. As well as the dictator
Fulgencio Batista, who left Cuba on January 1, 1959 when the victory of the
rebel forces was imminent, so too fled the members of the mob. They relocated
their dubious enterprises to Nevada and the present day Las Vegas provides
visitors some insight to what might have become to the cherished UNESCO
heritage site of Havana had history been different. Perhaps the most famous Irish-American to
visit Havana for the notoriously wild nightlife before the revolution was John
F. Kennedy when he was a senator in 1957 and there exists some salacious
accounts of his trip. Later, as president during the height of the cold war,
Kennedy imposed an embargo of Cuban goods as he viewed Cuba a satellite of the
Soviet state but not before acquiring a large quantity of quality Cuban cigars
for his personal use. Decades after the cold war and the fall of the Soviet
Union the embargo still remains in place.
The walk continues eastward until the end of Trocedero then
turn left on Avenida Belgica . Walking northward on Avenida Belgica you will
see on the left the Granma Memorial. The original boat the Granma, which
transported 82 revolutionaries from Mexico to Cuba is on display in a glass
enclosure visible from the street. Notably on this boat were the Cuban revolutionary
heroes Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro, Camilo
Cienfuegos and Che Guevara, the latter fighter being of
Irish descent. Born Ernesto Guevara
Lynch, his grandmother Anna Isabel Lynch
was from Galway, Ireland. Che’s father later stated famously “the first thing
to note is that in my son’s veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels.”
Continue the walk north, turn left on Cuarteles, continue to
Cuba St. On Cuba St. is the Hotel Palicio O’Farrill a boutique hotel operated by the the
Habaguanex group which has beautifully restored the palace of Don Jose Ricardo
O’Farrill, the great-grandson of Don Ricardo O’Farrill and O’Daly whose family
was from County Longford, Ireland. The O’Farrill family became vastly wealthy
as sugar and slave traders. The incredible opulence of what once was a private
family home has been preserved with a careful restoration overseen by The City Historian Eusebio Leal’s Department
of Architecture Office.
Continue walking on Cuba St until Chacon St. Turn left and
proceed east you will see the Old Havana jail, and the view across the water of
the El Morro fortress, both symbols of Spanish military rule of Colonial
Havana. The lighthouse at the fortress was once called O’Donnell’s Lighthouse
after Captain General Leopoldo O’Donnell, a relative of Red Hugh O’Donnell Many Irish names were represented in the
Spanish military force as Spain hired them as soldiers for their skill and
determination. The soldiers were respected and often gained high rank. In 1598
Diego Brochero de Anaya wrote the Spanish King Philip III: “that every year
Your Highness should order to recruit in Ireland some Irish soldiers, who are
people tough and strong, and nor the cold weather or bad food could kill them
easily as they would with the Spanish, as in their island, which is much colder
than this one, they are almost naked, they sleep on the floor and eat oats
bread, meat and water, without drinking any wine.” Four Governors, the Captain Generals of Cuba
were of Irish origin Nicolás Mahy, Sebastián Kindelán, Leopoldo O’Donnell and
Luís Prendergast.
Turn right on Tacon proceed to Seminario de San Carlos y San
Ambrosio. On both sides of the main doors
are busts of the respected educators and philosophers of the seminary.
José Agustín Caballero and Félix Varela. Felix Varela, a humble Cuban priest
born in 1788 was later known in life as the “The Vicar to the Irish”. A
brilliant polymath gifted in science, music and languages, Varela learned the
Irish language so he could better minister to the poor Irish immigrants of New
York City that comprised most of his parish. He found himself in exile and fled
to America when Spain issued a death warrant for Varela after he published his
views advocating the Independence of Cuba from Spain. Varela championed causes benefiting the poor,
urged for the abolition of slavery and his memory is honoured today as an early
advocate for conscientious social reform. To the south of the seminary is the
Catedral de Habana. Ireland is inextricably linked to Cuba through shared
religious history as persecuted Irish Catholics sought refuge in Spain and were
awarded citizenship by the sympathetic Spaniards, settling there and leaving
Irish descendants, some of whom colonized the island of Cuba. (A bust of Varela can be found in the park in front of the former Seminary.)
Continue the walk on Tacon until you come to O’Reilly
Street. Here you will see a plaque under the street name in English, Irish and
Spanish “Two island peoples in the same sea of struggle and hope: Cuba and
Ireland” acknowledging the parallels in the histories of Ireland and Cuba in
their struggle to be free from foreign domination. Irish revolutionary and
third president of Ireland Eamon De Valera was born to an Irish-American
mother Catherine Coll and it is believed his father Juan De Valera was Cuban,
another interesting link between the two island nations. O’Reilly St. was named
after Alejandro O’Reilly, and Irish born soldier for Spain who gained high rank
and was second-in-command in Cuba. After the British successfully sieged
Havana, he enacted sweeping reforms once Havana was once again under Spanish
rule. Never again would Britain rule Cuba. The Spanish military rule of Havana
continued until the War of Independence.
Continue walking on the Tacon until the Plaza de Armas. The
parade square used by the military. The Palacio de los Capitanes Generales faces the square, in front is a wooden street
meant to dampen the noise of the horse and carriage traffic. Now the museum of
the city it was the home of the Captain Generals, some of Irish descent as
discussed earlier.
The southern side of building is bordered by Obispo and at 67 Obispo was born Julio Antonio Mella a founder of the Cuban Communist party. His mother was Irish born Cecilia McPartland and he is regarded as a hero in Havana. His remains are entombed in a monument in front of Havana’s University where as a student leader he became a great threat to Cuban president Gerardo Machado’s dictatorship and was forcibly exiled to Mexico where he was assassinated under mysterious circumstances.
One Irish-American scofflaw who aided the revolutionary forces during the struggle for Cuban Independence was a sea Captain named Johnny “Dynamite” O’ Brien, a New Yorker of Irish descent nicknamed after the dangerous cargo of ammunitions he would deliver to the rebel forces. He successfully evaded capture by the frustrated Spanish forces and died an old man in America after a life full of adventure and exploits.
A plaque honoring Dynamite Johnny can be found on the Avenida de Puerto, 15 feet from the entrance to the Plaza de Armas, walking toward the cruise terminal and Plaza San Francisco. Johnny was so highly regarded by both countries that he was named Havana’s first Port Captain and took the Battleship Maine out to sea to resink it where it would not block shipping.
Walk west on Obispo until San Igancio, turn right and walk
north back to O’Reilly St. At the corner of O’Reilly and St. Ignacio is the bar
Café O’Reilly. (Upstairs is a photo display of Irish and Irish descended figures in Cuban history and culture.)
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