The Mexican government granted “empresario” status in Tejas to two Scotsmen, James McGloin and John McMullen. The two men then settled roughly 200 Irish Catholic families in their colony – named San Patricio in honor of Ireland’s Saint Patrick. Two Irishmen were granted another colony – the Power and Hewetson Colony – and helped settle roughly 350 immigrants from their native Ireland, along with families from other parts of Mexico. Many of their descendants still live in Refugio and San Patricio counties.

The Irish took a rather ambivalent view of the Texian independence movement. Interestingly, many of them actually sided with the Mexican cause – not the Texian. It may have had less to do with politics and more to do with the shared Catholic religion between many of the Mexicans and the Irish.

The collections of the Refugio County Museum cover a wide array of local history and subjects – including the Irish settlement of the area, as well as information about the Battle of Refugio in the Texas Revolution.