Description
Following the defeat of Napoleon’s Grande Armée at Waterloo, many former soldiers of his Légion Irlandaise left France for South America, enlisting in Simon Bolivar’s army. This shirt crafted by Cremona Heritage, has been inspired by those heroic ex Legionnaires seeking independence for their new homelands of Venezuela and Bolivia.
The predecessor of La Légion Irlandaise was the Irish Brigade of the royal French armies in the 1700s, which famously routed the Austrian army at the battle of Cremona in Northern Italy. Later an officer of Napoleon’s Irish Legion, renamed the entire townland and his house at Foxhall in the Swords area of County Dublin to Cremona, to commemorate the victory. The original 18th century house and gate lodge at Cremona survive intact to this day, evolving as a living history and research venue dedicated to overseas Irish militia heritage.
The Cremona commemorative shirt collection pays homage to the many Irish legions and militias formed across the globe, from the Tercio Irlandés of Spain of 1587 to the Irish Transvaal Brigade of South Africa 1899. Editions currently available: 1. La Légion Irlandaise; 2. La Brigade Irlandaise; 3. Irish Militia Heritage; 4. Montgomery Guard of Boston; 5. La Légion Irlandesa de Simon Bolivar; 6. La Armada Invencible; 7. Flight of the Wild Geese; 8. The Sarsfield Grenadier Guard of California; 9. La Légion de Patricios de Buenos Aires; 10. El Batallón de San Patricio, Mexico.
