How an Irish-named town in Argentina brought me back to my Galway childhood

The author's attention was captured by a small, rural town in Argentina's Province of Buenos Aires named Duggan, discovered through an Instagram reel. Despite living over 6,000 kilometers away in Bogotá, Colombia, the name 'Duggan' resonated with a personal history connected to Ireland.

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Duggan is now, clearly, a place that time has forgotten.

The town was established in the mid-1800s by the Duggan brothers, Michael, Thomas, and Daniel, who emigrated from Ballymahon, County Longford, Ireland. Like many of their contemporaries, they sought opportunities in sheep-farming and ranching on the Argentine Pampas. This wave of Irish emigration led to Argentina having the largest population of Irish descendants outside the English-speaking world, estimated at half a million people.

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The brothers left post-Famine Ireland and arrived in Argentina in the mid-1800s.

From humble beginnings, the Duggan brothers became successful cattle ranchers, reportedly amassing an estate the size of the Irish province of Munster. However, the present-day village of Duggan offers little evidence of this prosperous past. Grass now grows between abandoned train tracks, and the town appears to be a place "time has forgotten," as quiet and overlooked as Ballymahon was when the brothers departed.

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Argentina now has the largest population of Irish descendants outside the English-speaking world (some half a million).

The author draws parallels between Duggan's current state and the inevitability of time's passage, noting that an Irish name alone could not shield the town from its effects. This reflection prompts a personal connection to the author's own childhood in Galway, Ireland, where relatives named Duggan lived. A vivid memory of learning to ride a bicycle in front of their rural home remains a cherished experience, later inspiring a children's story.

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An Irish name alone can’t help a small town in Argentina escape the vicissitudes of time.