It was a little dream, and it was shattered quietly on Saturday afternoon. The Mayo community of Foxford, which was bedecked in blue and white for the World Cup quarterfinal between Argentina and Holland, had hoped to see the trophy being taken across the Atlantic next month.
How so? On the good ship Libertad - that's how. The Argentinian frigate is bound for Killala Bay en route to the Dublin Tall Ships festival, with landfall at Kilcummin pier on August 16th. "We thought that if they won they might sail in with the cup, and we'd help them to celebrate all over again."
Peter Hynes, an architect with Mayo County Council, was one of the many nursing their wounds in Guiry's corner house after it was over. `It was a brilliant match, and, yes, it was sad when Bergkamp scored that final goal for Holland." The point being, of course, that Foxford became Argentinian for the day. And for the previous week. And for the week before that. Complete with latin music, Argentinian wine, flags and bunting and a photograph of Batistuta in a big boot. In fact, long before the World Cup was even talked about Foxford had forged strong South American links. It had good reason to, as the birthplace of the father of the Argentinian navy, Admiral William Brown.
Brown was only nine when he was taken to Pennsylvania. His father died soon afterwards of yellow fever. Imprisoned during the Napoleonic Wars, Brown made his first trip to the River Plate in 1809. There followed many exploits, leading to his involvement in Argentina's independence struggle.
As a tribute to its hero the Foxford Admiral Brown Society has taken several initiatives. It has drawn up plans for a remembrance park and a museum and interpretative centre are to be housed in Foxford Woollen Mills. An audiovisual theatre in the centre will tell the story of Brown. Several fundraising ventures have already been held, according to the projects manager, Marian Trench.
One such venture is the sale of a commemorative 1798 pike, and a draw has been held to win a berth on the Libertad's Atlantic crossing. With a crew of 300, the Libertad is one of the world's largest tall ships and holds that category's record for a transatlantic crossing at six days and 21 hours. Later this month Marian Trench flies out to New York to join the vessel for an Irish night, part of the Admiral Brown initiative. With 400,000 Argentinians claiming Irish descent, Foxford doesn't have a monopoly on the south American state, of course. Celtic News is one magazine distributed in Buenos Aires which Galway singer Mary McPartlan picked up on a recent visit. And the Southern Cross monthly was founded in 1887 by Monsignor Dillon from Tuam, Co Galway.
Mary was on a week-long trip to set up a cultural exchange between the two countries, grant-aided by Udaras na Gaeltachta and the Arts Council. During her visit, where she was assisted by the Irish Ambassador, Art Agnew, she met the cultural and defence ministers, many Irish-Argentinians and some of the finest traditional musicians.
She toured galleries to view exhibition space and discussed the practical aspects of presenting Irish music in Argentina. The Minister for Culture, Mrs Beatriz Gutierrez Walker, was supportive of the idea. Suitable venues would be put at Mary's disposal, she said, and she agreed that at least one musical performance should be held outside Buenos Aires, perhaps in Rosario or Cordoba. All in all, a fruitful journey. The provisional date is October of next year.