John
McKay was born in County
Wexford in 1830 and by 1867 had managed to arrive in Mocorito, Sinaloa. Other
Irish had preceeded him to Mocorito but we do not know if he knew of them (I did not write down the information; the
Irish names can be seen in church records of the early 19th century). Based on his wedding information record, we know
McKay was initially a blacksmith or iron monger. A family story was that when
McKay arrived at the dock in Topolobampo, a
Mayo indian woman sewed his torn pants and he subsequently married her. The event might have happened, but his wife, Maria
Avila Felix, was listed as "Espanola" on her baptismal entry. They had two daughters,
Alberta and Teresa, the latter my grandmother, who married Pedro Inzunza
Gaxiola (two of the many
Basque families that settled Mocorito). Alberta is buried in the Mocorito cemeteery; Teresa died in Mexico City in 1949. The notarial records show John
McKay, usually as Juan Mecay, in various commercial transactions, often working with his son-in-law in the importation of mining equipment from Germany, and also in one case posting a bail bond for two assailants who may have been in the employ of
McKay to collect money. His Mocorito townhouse bordered the Pedro Inzunza home on Calle
Juarez and as of 1994 still stood. It is unlikely that
McKay ever returned to Eire. A few of his descendants, however, have attended boarding schools in Ireland.
