20th Century
After Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain to the United States at the end of the Spanish–American War in 1898, many Irish-American soldiers who were assigned to the military bases in Puerto Rico chose to stay and live in the island. Unlike their counterparts who settled in the United States in close knit communities, both the Irish immigrants and migrants in Puerto Rico intermarried with Puerto Ricans and adopted the language and customs of the island, thereby completely integrating themselves into the society of their new homeland.
The Irish influence in Puerto Rican politics is also notable. After Pedro Albizu Campos was honorably discharged from the United States Army, he attended Harvard University in Boston, Mass. While in Boston he established clubs and centers where young Irish people congregated and discussed the independence of their homeland. Albizu was invited by Éamon de Valera to assist as a consultant in the drafting of the Irish Free State constitution. After Albizu returned to Puerto Rico, he joined the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and soon after became the party's president. Albizu adopted the Irish Republican Movement as the model for the Nationalist Party to follow.
Read more about this topic: Irish Immigration To Puerto Rico
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