ABSTRACT
By the mid-1630s the Dutch were turning their attention away from the Amazon to Brazil, the rivers further north on the Guiana coast and the West Indies. With no confidence in the efficiency of the English Guiana venturers, the Irish preferred to turn to Spain. The distinguished record of their exiled compatriots in both Spain and the Netherlands was clear evidence of the special relationship between the Irish and the Spanish monarchy and their devotion to its interests. Bernard O’Brien was captured by Dutch privateers in the Indies. Carried off to Holland he was haled up before the Zeeland Chamber of the West India Company to explain why he had surrendered Tauregue. He slipped away with his Indian servant over the border to the Spanish Netherlands where he contacted the earls of Tyrconnel and Tyrone and tried to get passage for Spain.
