THE HISPANO-IRISH ASSOCIATION &
RED HUGH O´DONNELL

In Valladolid, from years ago different events have taken place to highlight the figure of Red Hugh O’Donnell and his value in Valladolid’s city.
En el 1991 se coloca una placa en el Castillo de Simancas en memoria de Red Hugh.In 2002 the O’Donnell Clan bring together in Valladolid descendant members from the Clan, ones from Ireland, others from the United States and some from Spain to commemorate 400 years after Red Hugh’s death.


Plaque placed in 2001 en el Castillo de Simancas Castle (Valladolid.Spain) in the memory of Red Hugh O´Donnell

Gathering of members of O´Donnell Clan in Valladolid



2008: THE ASSOCIATION IS BORN
The Hispano-Irish association is created in Valladolid. It´s the first Association with these characteristics, as a meeting point between the Irish and the Spanish communities through their common history, their music, their people, their tourism, their companies.
In 2007, the 400th anniversary of the Flight of the Earls was commemorated in Ireland, when the clans went to ask for help to Catholic Spain and Italy, against English protestant invaders. They were 2 factions based on the vision each of them had of the world and on an opposing national and imperial philosophy.
Before the Flight of the Earls, 5 years earlier, Red Hugh O’Donnell, leader of the powerful O’Donnell Clan from Ireland, had decided to come in person to the capital of Spain, Valladolid, to meet Philip III to request him to send new troops to Ireland.
He stays in Simancas’s Castle (on the outskirts of Valladolid) where he later dies.
Philip III gives him a Royal burial as a sign of respect with a funeral procession that will depart from the Royal Palace in Saint Paul’s square in Valladolid to Saint Francis’s Monastery where he had asked in his will to be buried when he died.
2009: HI! GOLDEN DIGITAL PRIZE
Castille and Leon’s regional government honours Hispano-Irish with the top award, alongside the newspaper “El Norte de Castilla”, the digital prize for Spanish diffusion.

Carlos Burgos President of the Asoc. Hispano-Irish collect the digital prize of the Junta CyL.


Reception with President of Ireland, Mary McAlesee, and the Irish Ambassador, Justin Harman.
2011 Octubre.VALLADOLID´S PLAQUE.
Hispano-Irish help with the Irish Embassy, and its Ambassador Justin Harman, with the City Hall of Valladolid, wich Mayor then was León de la Riva, the instalation of a Plaque in memory of Red Hugh O´Donnell.
2011, THE IRISH PRESIDENT.
Saint Patrick´s Day celebrations: Hispano-Irish attends a reception with the President of Ireland, Mary McAlesee, and also with the Ambassador Justin Harman, and the Minister Simon Coveny; where they discuss the subject of Red Hugh O´Donnell.

Meeting with the Mayor of Valladolid, León de la Riva, and historian Hugo O´Donnell, and the Ambassador Harman,


The Culture Secretary of State of the Spanish Goverment, Jose Mª Lassalle, the director of Simancas Archive, Eduardo Pedruelo, the Ambassador Harman, the Mayor of Simancas, the President of the Diputación of Valladolid

2013 PROMOTION OF SPANISH-IRISH RELATIONS EXHIBITION.
Hispano-Irish offers a proposal to the Director of Simancas Archive which involves the possibility of diffusing the archives of the historical relations between Spain and Ireland. This goes ahead with the help of the Ministry of Culture and the collaboration of the Simancas Archive and the Irish Embassy. An interesting investigation is carried out by Ciaran O´Scea, an exhibition is created and the arhives are catalogued.
2019: SEARCHING FOR RED HUGH´S TOMB
In the summer, the visit of a retired commander from the Irish Army, Brendan Rohan, searching for the tomb of Red Hugh, motivates investigators Juan Carlos Urueña and Oscar Burón to try to locate the burial site in Saint Francis´s Monastery.
The investigation is conclusive that the Chapel of Wonders housed the remains of Red Hugh O´Donnell in the same place where the remains of Admiral Christopher Columbus were.

The team with the two investigators and the two archeologists.

The Dig discover the Chapel of the Marbels (St Francis Monastery) and eighteen skeletons.
2020, THE DIG STARTS
At the beginning of the year, a project development team is created in which the researchers and the Director of the Local Archive of Valladolid, Hispano-Irish and the City Council’s Culture Area intend to carry out the excavation research. To which are added archaeologists Olatz Villanueva from the Simancas Institute and Jesús Misiego from the Strato Company.
The investigation concludes that the Chapel of Wonders housed the remains of Red Hugh O´Donnell in the same place where the remains of Admiral Christopher Columbus were.
On the 18th of April of 2020 with the sponsorship of Valladolid’s Town Hall (Culture department) the archaeological excavations begin.

Infografía de como sería la fachada del Monasterio San Francisco (por Juan Carlos Urueña)
Un portal bilateral bilingüe
Hispano-Irish pretende ser el PORTAL DE REFERENCIA en España e Irlanda para todo lo que tenga que ver con ambos países, sus culturas, su Historia común, sus lenguas, su ocio.
LA IDEA (en 2008)
Hace 400 años en Irlanda aconteció el denominado Flight of the Earls (El vuelo de los Nobles). Los líderes Irlandeses abandonaban su Isla ante la presión británica, para ir a buscar ayuda en sus aliados naturales.
A España llegaría en 1602, en concreto a Simancas (Valladolid), Red Hugh O’Donnell para contactar con el Rey de España, Felipe III.
Del aniversario del Flight of the Earls y de su conexión con Valladolid surge la idea de crear esta Asociación. Pero sobre todo por la pasión que levanta Irlanda en España, y por la eterna hermandad Hispano-Irlandesa.
La Asociación Hispano-Irish surge España como un proyecto que fomente a nivel popular las relaciones entre nuestra Comunidad y la Isla de Irlanda, pero hoy en día ha abierto sus puertas al resto de España.
La difusión del español en Irlanda y del inglés en España será junto a la difusión de la Historia común de España e Irlanda la piedra angular en que se fundamente Hispano-Irish.
Español, Inglés, Historia, Turismo Rural, Viajar a Irlanda, Universidades, Eventos Culturales, Formación, Empleo, los vinos, la Artesanía, el Clima. Esperamos poder abarcar todo lo que esté en nuestras manos.
Trabajaremos desde ambos lados del mar, y buscaremos la relación con los hispanohablantes de América y con los descendientes irlandeses de los Estados Unidos.
Estas invitado a participar. Tenemos un sitio para ti y tu iniciativa.
¿Te atreves a dejar tu huella?
Participa: info@hispano-irish.es