“When people from Ireland began populating Texas, they arrived packing courage, toughness, and resilience as a result of previous persecutions and domination by England. The newcomers encountered similar difficulties under Spanish rule, yet they persevered and ultimately helped Texas win its independence. . . . Contrary to the hopes of the Mexican government, the Irish ultimately joined other settlers in Texas’ struggle for independence. Eleven Irishmen died defending the Alamo in 1836, and approximately a hundred fought at the Battle of San Jacinto . . . in the decades that followed, more Irish escaped to Texas to avoid economic woes and famine in their homeland. . . . The Central Texas community of Dublin, proclaimed by the state legislature in 2005 as the “Irish Capital of Texas,” stages a celebration the Saturday before Saint Patrick’s Day.”

Bob McCullough, “The Pluck of the Irish,” Authentic Texas: The Heritage Magazine of Texas, Volume 4, 2019, 60-61.