Mission Espíritu Santo, Goliad, Texas

[Tom Barry]

Taken in 2011 and re-processed today. Contax 139Q, Zeiss 28mm f/2.8, Kodak Plus-X.
66810032 by tombarry975, on Flickr

[Wavelength]

Excellent image; liked it very much

[rpcrowe]

Nice image... I have a soft spot for the Mission. My 3rd Great Grand Uncle, William Quinn, was killed at the Battle of Coleto Creek on March 19th 1836 during the Goliad Campaign which later resulted in the massacre at Goliad...

William Quinn was only one of my many ancestors from Ireland that settled in South Texas on Mexican Land Grants prior to the Texas Revolution...

[Tom Barry]

Thanks. You will also be familiar with the Fannin monument which commemorates that massacre.
Fannin Memorial by tombarry975, on Flickr

[rpcrowe]

I am familiar with the monument.

Strange thing, my family oral history always had William Quinn dying in the massacre. When after researching the massacre, I found out that our William died in the Coleto Creek Battle, the day before the actual Goliad massacre, for some reason I felt better. I would rather have had him die with a gun in his hand than having him been shot by a firing squad of Mexican soldiers.

What is seldom if ever taught in Texas schools is the Colonies of Irish that settled in South Texas at the same time as the Austin Colonies were being established in East Texas. The Mexican government invited Irish to settle in what was then their territory of Texas, offering them land grants with the expectation that they would be a buffer against the deprivations of the Comanche Indians. Additionally, since the Irish were Roman Catholics, it was expected that they would become a buffer against the encroachment of the Protestant Anglos from the United States. The Texas County, San Patricio, was named after these settlers.

The settlement of the Irish did not work out to the expectations of the Mexican Government. Many of the Irish settlers actively supported and fought for the cause of Texas Independence. Several of my ancestors, including the aforementioned William Quinn and, Felix Hart (my 3rd G-Grandfather) died in the cause of Texas Independence and his brother, Timothy Hart, signed the Texas Declaration of Independence at Goliad...

[Tom Barry]

Even written family histories can’t always be relied upon. My great-grandfather claimed a lot of valiant military service, including with the 38th Regiment of Foot at Waterloo. Our family historian, back in the early 1900s, did not have the ready access to files that we do today. My own research, with the help of a British military historian, proved great-grandad was bloviating. The only military service he actually had was in the U.S. Army as an enlisted man in the early 1800s. He deserted after three months, and only escaped arrest because of a blanket amnesty issued after the War of 1812.