Eduardo Casey: The Irish-Argentine Cattleman Who Founded Venado Tuerto

Who was Eduardo Casey?

Eduardo Casey was an Irish-Argentine landowner and cattle exporter, born on 20 April 1847 in Lobos, Buenos Aires province, and dead on 23 July 1906 in Buenos Aires. The Irish Times calls him an 'Irish gaucho.' This profile is thin: it relies on a short Wikipedia biography and a newspaper feature on his life, and it does not claim more than they support.

He belonged to the second generation of the Irish immigrant community that built much of Argentina's sheep and cattle economy.

Early life at El Curazno

He was born on the El Curazno ranch in Lobos. His father Lawrence came from Westmeath and his mother Mary from Wicklow, and the family arrived around 1830. They had nine children.

Growing up on a working ranch gave him early experience of the animals and the horse culture he later became known for.

Live cattle, railways and cold storage

The Irish Times says Casey was the first to export live cattle to England and credits him with helping develop the railways and cold-storage technology that the beef trade depended on. Those are the newspaper's claims, and this profile reports them as such.

He also founded a stud farm and was known for taking part in gaucho horse races. Later accounts connect him to the Curamalal estancia in Buenos Aires province, though that detail comes from Spanish-language sources I could not open.

How did Casey found Venado Tuerto?

In 1880 Casey bought about 1,700 square miles, or 4,400 square kilometers, in Santa Fe province and founded what is now Venado Tuerto. The name comes from a one-eyed deer, according to the story told about early settlers and raids by local Indigenous groups. Venado Tuerto now has about 70,000 inhabitants.

In 1884 he helped found and fund the town of Pigue, in Saavedra, and he helped recruit Irish immigrants to Argentina in the second half of the century.

The 1890 crash and its aftermath

Casey also founded the Jockey Club of Buenos Aires and developed a port district in Montevideo, Uruguay. A financial crash in 1890 wiped out his wealth. The Irish Times reports he raised 100,000 pounds in London to repay small investors, but never recovered; his possessions were auctioned and his wife had left him.

He died in 1906, and the Irish Times says he took his own life.

Visit or learn more

Venado Tuerto, the city he founded, is the place to start. Online, farm.FM's ranching section offers cattle stories from around the world, and a farm.FM story on Irish settlers and cattle is a good companion. Readers curious about his contemporary can see Pedro Luro's entry.