SAN PATRICIO/ The Chieftains and Ry Cooder tell the story of the Great Battle in their new album

The Chieftains have released their latest musical venture, "San Patricio," an album featuring American artist Ry Cooder. The story behind the music is fascinating: To this day, Irish travelers in Mexico find themselves greeted with utmost respect, and invited to share in a long-cherished memory the two cultures hold in common.

In 1846, as war exploded between the United States and Mexico, courageous Irish defected en masse from the U.S. Army to unite Catholic with Catholic by joining the troops of Mexican General Santa Ana. From there they fought their American compatriots in defense of Mexican territories in Texas and California. And the Irish weren’t the only ones: in what came to be called the Great Battle of Saint Patrick, named for the patron saint of the Emerald Isle (in Spanish, San Patricios), Catholics of Italian, Polish, Spanish, Scottish, and German origins all fought alongside the Mexicans. Those warriors who fell into the hands of the North American forces were immediately killed or branded as traitors.

In the United States, memories of this episode have long been dead and buried. The war was one of conquest, in which the U.S. took both Texas and California, and the forgotten act of the Irish, now resurrected in music, is a testimony to the global camaraderie formed in pursuit of freedom and independence. The Irish were particularly familiar with the fight, since their homeland was then under British rule, but other Catholic countries also resonated with the struggle against invasion.

Paddy Maloney is the visionary creator behind both the album and the Chieftains, the renowned Irish band dedicated to the traditional music of their native Ireland, which Maloney founded forty-eight years ago. He has always been dedicated to preserving the music and traditions of his native land, “The Irish came to America to escape the Great Famine caused by the occupying English. In their new land they found themselves pressed into military service, forced to bear arms against their fellow Catholics. Without thinking twice, they crossed over to the Mexican side.” This is the tale remembered in music on “San Patricio.”

The Chieftains have become an historical institution in their homeland, having safeguarded for decades the richness of Ireland’s traditional popular music and now and again bringing their unique sound into harmony with rock and other contemporary forms of music. Ry Cooder began his career in the late seventies as a studio guitarist for many of the great names of Rock, including the Rolling Stones. Today he is considered one of the leading experts on global music traditions, and has produced albums together with musicians around the world, from Africa to Cuba (for example the well-known Buena Vista Social Club).

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