In Sail West Producer Brian Kenny uncovers the story of Monaghans famous son John Mac Kenna known as Don Juan Mac Kenna, the co-liberator of Chile.
After leaving Monaghan and training as an officer in Spain Mac Kenna went to Chile to work with the Spanish Colonists before circumstances took him to the revolutionary path alongside fellow Irishman Bernard O Higgins.
In this in depth look at his life, his story is told through interviews with esteemed author Tim Fanning, The Mac Kenna Clann in Ireland and Chile, History professors and Army historians in Chile, Kate Quinn of NUI Galway and the Irish ambassador in Santiago Paul Gleeson.
We hear how Mac Kennas military knowledge was essential to the Chilean struggle and how he set up their Army engineering core, governed over the Osorno province and died in a dramatic duel as a young man.
Sail West was produced and edited by Brian Kenny and supported with a grant from the BAI Sound and Vision Scheme.
