From Garibaldi to Gilmore
Giuseppe Garibaldi
I already know what you are saying to yourselves - especially having woken from a post Christmas torpor and not yet prepared to face the unexpected - such as a shock horror headline in your favourite Irish provincial newspaper. The only reply I can make is of course the obvious one - read on, read on all will become clear (at some stage).
Firstly let me say that the first named above is a much more interesting character than the second, to which the more erudite of you will say "tell us something we don't know." So, in the knowledge that I can make a connection, tenuous though it may be, between him and Ireland I will proceed.
Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in Nice in France in 1807 but moved to Italy at an early age. In his adopted land - Italy was at that time a loose and war-torn collection of provinces - he soon established himself as a military hero and fought hard to unite Italy into a single kingdom or republic. However, having lost a decisive battle in a rebellion against the King of Sardinia in 1834 he emigrated to South America where his military attributes were soon recognised.
At that time the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul was in revolt against the Brazilian government and, being something of a rebel already, he took the side of the Rio Grande. He attained hero status and in fact was acclaimed far and wide in Brazil for his bravery and brilliance in many battles.
See this week's Celt for more on this article...
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