Finding an Irish Ancestor Using South America Records

Argentina Ireland

Notes on Immigration
Few immigrants came to Argentina before 1800, but with the independence and after the defeat of Juan Manuel de Rosas, Argentina opened the door to Europeans. Starting around 1853 the project to colonize took force. The immigrants that had made contracts in Europe to gain land began to arrive, settling in colonies in the provinces of Santa Fe, Chaco, and Entre Rios. In the 19th century, about 45,000 Irish people immigrated to Argentina.

How to Use This Page
Currently, this page has information and links relating to Irish immigrants to the country of Argentina. Some are databases containing names of people who immigrated, and some are links to articles about records that may have clues about a person's place of birth.

General South America

 * Brits in South America Database

Argentina
Irish emigrants from the Midlands, Wexford and many counties of Ireland arrived in Argentina mainly from 1830 to 1930, with the largest wave taking place in 1850-1870. Read more....

Census records
A census may state a person's birthplace. The first national census was taken in 1869. Read more about this census.

Cemetery Records
Cemetery records may give more information than church burial registers or civil certificates of deaths. They may include the name of the deceased person, age, date of death or burial, birth year or date of birth, and sometimes marriage information. Read more about cemetery records.

Civil registration
Death records generally give the name, date, and place of death. Depending on the clerk who registered the death, the record may also include the age or date of birth of a child, place of residence, occupation, cause of death, burial information, and the informant's name (often a relative). They often provide the name of a spouse or parents.

Be aware that information about parents, birth date, and birthplace of the deceased person and other information in a death record may be inaccurate since the person who gave the information may not have known. Read more about civil registration.

Internet

 * Irish Passengers to Argentina (1822-1929)
 * Irish to Argentina, 1822-1829
 * Irish Settlers in Argentina

Online collections containing these records are located in familysearch.org Wiki articles describing these collectons are found at:

Argentina 1869 Census (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Print
A number Irish emigrants were enticed to settle in Argentina. Various books and articles provide information about Irish migration to Argentina. Most are in English but a few were published in Spanish.


 * Mulvany, Peter. "The Argentine Republic Emigration Scheme." Journal of the Genealogical Society of Ireland. : 46-9. Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin : Genealogical Society of Ireland, 2000.
 * Collins Tracing Your Irish Family History, chapter 7 (FHL )