Red Hugh, an Irish hero just around the corner

The name Red Hugh sounds very Irish. I should point out that, when an Irish person calls someone «red», they´re not necessarily talking politics, as is usually the case in Spain. Rather, they´re often as not simply refering to the colour of their hair. Your man, as the Irish say, was a red head. However, not everybody in the emerald island is fair. No, traditionally there are also the «black irish» who, whilst not being black in the modern sense of the word, are certainly swarthy. Due to their relatively dark complexión, many actually believe them to be descended from sailors of the Spanish Armada who were shipwrecked on Irish shores. For example, look no further than the recently deceased Michael Robinson, the former Liverpool and Osasuna footballer. A son of Irish emigrants, he was fond of telling the story of how he was descended from a crewman aboard a galleon from Cadiz, that went down off the coast of Cork during that fateful autumn of 1588. Micheal, old friend, I know you´re out there and you can hear me. I´m sorry to tell you this, mate, but as by now you are no doubt well aware, there´s about as much chance of you being descended from a shipwrecked sailor from the Spanish Armada as there is of finding Red Hugh´s big toes in the frozen food section of El Corte Inglés. The truth, I´m afraid, can be a bit brutal, and in this case the truth is that, with very few exceptions, the heads of the hapless Spaniards, that had been brought to grief by Neptune, were handed over to the English authorities, who paid a sovereign for every one they received…

I have worked in the world of tourism as a guide, taking coach loads of American tourists around the Republic of Ireland in search of their roots. Normally, when a person from somewhere like Boston or New York says that they´re Irish they mean that their ancestors were forced to emigrate to the New World, during the second half of the nineteenth century. When they go on tours, the guides try to keep things as jolly as possible, if not by lying then by omitting unpleasant truths such as that mentioned above. There are approximately thirty-three million Irish Americans, forming ten per cent of the population of the USA. With the obvious exception of 2020, every year thousands of them visit the land of their ancestors. Just as a muslim will go on a pilgrimmage to Mecca once in a lifetime, so an Irish American will try to visit «the Old Country» at least once before they die.  

O´Donnell means «of Donald» and is one of the most common family names in the Province of Ulster. Those who bear it are from the land of Donald, or Donegal, as they say in gaelic. From now on, since the unearthing of Red Hugh´s bones, there will come a point in every O´Donnell´s life, sooner or later, when they learn that their famous ancestor died in Valladolid, Spain. Could that affect tourism, here in Pucela? Who knows? The capital of Castile has enough tourist attractions already, such as the houses of Cervantes or Christopher Columbus, without having to be overly dependent on bones discovered beneath it´s streets. Having said that, Red Hugh´s story is undoubtedly another plus for the city that enriches it´s already rich culture.

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