From Texas to Ireland

Little did I know, when I turned off Farm to Market Road 774 in Refugio, Texas, last week, I would end up in Balleygarrett, Ireland one week later.

I was returning back home to Orange, Texas from my hometown Corpus Christi, Texas.  Now I have made this trip a thousand times, but this time I decided to take my camera and take a few pictures.  I wanted to take some photographs between Corpus Christi and Refugio.  I took several pictures on the way to Refugio which I may blog later on, but what interested me the most was a Victorian style house off the main highway in Refugio, Texas. 

Now if you’ve ever been to Refugio then you know it’s in the middle of nowhere.  The only reason you would drive to Refugio is if you are going to Corpus Christi or Mexico, 160 miles south.  It’s a very small town and only takes about 5 minutes to drive through.  The first house I was looking for was near the courthouse.  As I pulled up to it and took my pictures, I saw a man standing out in front of the Victorian style house watering his grass.  I also noticed a “For Sale” sign out in front.  My curiosity got the best of me so I put my camera away and drove in front of the house.  I introduced myself and asked the man if he was the owner.  He answered yes, and so I proceeded to ask him about his house’s history.  He told me it was built in the early 1900’s for the granddaughter of the empresario James Powers.

Now for those not familiar with Texas history, back in 1820’s Mexico was having problems with Indians in Texas.  One of the solutions was to settle the area with Mexicans or Anglos.  Since Mexico could not find enough willing Mexicans to move north, they gave grants of land to men like James Powers to bring in immigrants from the United States or from Europe.

The owner went on to tell me that the house was approximately 8000 square feet and the price he was asking.  I told him thanks, and being the amateur historian, wrote down James Powers’ name.  After I got home I looked up James Powers’ name on the internet.  As a Texas history buff, I knew that Stephen F. Austin brought the first group of settlers to Texas.  What I didn’t know is that James Powers went back to Ireland in 1834 to get settlers for his land.  James was from a small town called Balleygarrett, Ireland.  It is a small town south of Dublin.  Since one of the rules to move to Mexico was you that you had to become Catholic,  James did not have a hard time selling the idea of moving Irish Catholics to Texas.

Now the Irish in Balleygarrett were having some problems of their own.  It seems the Catholics in Ireland were not being treated well by the Protestant British.  When James Powers showed up and offered them a chance to own their own land in Texas, 350 joined up for the trip.

They were told to bring everything they needed since there were no Home Depots in 1834.  The group left Liverpool and arrived in New Orleans in early 1834 just as a cholera epidemic was spreading.   As their journey continued to Texas nearly one half of the colonists would die from cholera.  As if things couldn’t get worse, both of their ships wrecked on the Texas coast.  The weary Irish somehow survived the wreck and made their way to shore with most of their belongings only to be quarantined by the Mexican government on the beaches.  The surviving colonists sat exposed to the elements for two weeks before being allowed to move inland.

As the year 1834 came to a close the Irish colonists began to settle in,  just in time for the Texas Revolution.   As the Mexican armies advanced north through Texas, many of the Irish colonists had to flee, losing everything they owned.  A few others fought and died with Colonel Fannin at the Goliad Massacre.  I wondered if the ones who survived thought it was worth the price.

I concluded my research by driving to Ireland.  Well, actually I traveled via Google Map’s street view.  Along a small road entering Ballygarret sits a small stone that says, “Welcome to BallyGarrett Twinned with Refugio, Texas.”