William Bulfin
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William Bulfin (1 November 1863 – February 1910) was an Irish, and later Argentine, author, journalist, newspaper editor and publisher. He was the fourth son in a family of nine boys and one girl, the children of William Bulfin, of Derrinlough, Birr, County Offaly, Ireland, and Margaret Grogan of Croghan, County Offaly.


History

He attended the national school in Cloghan, where he is said to have been taught by the father of Easter Rising leader
Thomas MacDonagh Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh ( ga, Tomás Anéislis Mac Donnchadha; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising ...
, the Classical Academy and the Presentation Schools in Birr, and the Royal Charter School at
Banagher Banagher ( or ''Beannchar na Sionna'') is a town in Ireland, located in the midlands, on the western edge of County Offaly in the province of Leinster, on the banks of the River Shannon. It had a population of 3,000 at the height of its econ ...
. His maternal uncle, Father Vincent Grogan, was Provincial of the Passionist Fathers in a province that included a monastery in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. Bulfin emigrated to Argentina in 1884 with his elder brother Peter and they moved to the
pampas The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazi ...
. Hundreds of Irish emigrants from Counties Longford and
Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...
had settled in Argentina. The Bulfins had with them letters of introduction to the Passionist Fathers in Buenos Aires, and went to the ''estancia'' (ranch) of one of these, Don Juan Dowling from Longford. There he met the woman he would marry, Anne O’Rourke from Ballacurra, Ballymore, Westmeath. On the pampas, his preference was for the company of the
gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...
s and the Irish. Observing his countrymen and the hard-riding Spanish-Indian cowboys he began to write homely sketches and stories about their lives for '' The Southern Cross'', a weekly paper in Buenos Aires owned and edited by Michael Dineen from
Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
. Years later, he wrote in ''The Southern Cross'' about the vanishing gaucho in a way that showed how closely he had observed and how he had been attracted by the vivid pattern of life on the Argentinian grasslands. "He had his ranch and his horses and his work at trooping or marking or herding sheep, and he drank his anis or cana, and took his mate under his own fig tree, and gambled with bone or cards or on horse-racing at the ''pulperías'' of all the camps from the Arroyo Luna to the Medano Blanco, and along the frontier from Gainza to Melincué." In 1902, after relocating to
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, he wrote:
''It was a train brought me back to Buenos Aires from the camp. I mean it was the train which gave me the call ... happened that I had not seen a train for four years ... I went to a certain railway station one afternoon to send a telegram to Buenos Aires, and while I was there the train came in. I do not know whether it was the engine, or a look at the passengers, or the roar and rattle of the wheels, or all of these things together, that set the wheels of memory revolving. The city life of student days came back, the city began to call. As I galloped home it struck me that the camp was not meant for me, after all. It was telling me to clear out. ‘You are not good enough for me’, it seemed to be saying. ‘Go away, go back to your cities, and fair weather after you; don’t be afraid that I’II miss you or a thousand like you.’ And what the city said was this: 'Come back. For four and twenty years at home and abroad you have been keeping away from me. But it’s no use. You cannot help yourself. You were born in the open country ... but you are mine. You must come. I am the hag that men call the spirit of city life — ugly, selfish, corrupt, insincere, but I call you and you must come.''
A year after his arrival in the city he was sub-editing on ''The Southern Cross'', and shortly afterwards he was both proprietor and editor of that paper. The sketches he wrote were published in ''The Southern Cross'' and also, due to his friendship with
Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith ( ga, Art Seosamh Ó Gríobhtha; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that prod ...
, in the ''
United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...
'' and ''
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...
''. Eventually they reached the '' New York Daily News''. They were published in book form in 1907 by
Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
. In 1902 he wrote ''Rambles In Eirinn'', a well-regarded account of his travels around Ireland by bicycle on his return to his homeland. He became ill during a visit to the United States fundraising with The O'Rahilly for Arthur Griffith's newspaper ''
Sinn Fein In the philosophy of language, the distinction between sense and reference was an idea of the German philosopher and mathematician Gottlob Frege in 1892 (in his paper "On Sense and Reference"; German: "Über Sinn und Bedeutung"), reflecting the ...
''. Returned to Ireland on New Year's Day 1910, and died a month later. His children included
Eamon Bulfin Eamon Bulfin (1892–1968) was an Argentina, Argentine-born Irish republican. He was the son of writer William Bulfin (1864–1910) of Birr, County Offaly, Birr, in County Offaly (then called King's County). His father had emigrated to Argentin ...
, an Irish republican and political activist following the Irish Civil War, and Catalina (d. 1976), an activist who would marry
Seán MacBride Seán MacBride (26 January 1904 – 15 January 1988) was an Irish Clann na Poblachta politician who served as Minister for External Affairs from 1948 to 1951, Leader of Clann na Poblachta from 1946 to 1965 and Chief of Staff of the IRA from 19 ...
, the son of Irish nationalist icons Major John MacBride and
Maud Gonne Maud Gonne MacBride ( ga, Maud Nic Ghoinn Bean Mhic Giolla Bhríghde; 21 December 1866 – 27 April 1953) was an English-born Irish republican revolutionary, suffragette and actress. Of Anglo-Irish descent, she was won over to Irish nationalism ...
. He had three other daughters: Mary (d. 1930), Aileen (d. 1985) and Anita Bulfin (died 1923). His brother Patrick died in 1916. His uncle, also Patrick Bulfin, was a
Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. Th ...
in 1871 who died in office of typhoid after less than six months. The latter's son was the British general Sir Edward Bulfin.http://sources.nli.ie/Record/MS_UR_015234
National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland i ...
, Ms.111B, fol.29


References


External links


Hogan Stand.com''Rambles in Eirinn'' available free at the internet archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulfin, William 1863 births 1910 deaths 19th-century Irish people 20th-century Irish people Argentine people of Irish descent Irish emigrants to Argentina Irish journalists Irish newspaper editors Irish writers Writers from Buenos Aires People from County Offaly 19th-century Irish businesspeople