Gaynor, James (c.1802-1892), landowner, was born in Co. Westmeath. James Gaynor emigrated to the River Plate in the 1830s, and probably began working in Uruguay. Then Gaynor settled in Capilla del Señor, where in 1856 was a member of the city council. In 1865 he rented from the government 16,198 hectares in Nueve de Julio, which he purchased in 1881. During this time, Gaynor and his men fought several skirmishes against the Indians. James Gaynor also owned lands in Luján and Uruguay. Diego Gaynor married Louise Wallace (1813-1879). They had eleven children.

When he died on 15 June 1892, James Gaynor left 90,000 hectares of land to be distributed among the 150 members of his family.

On 31 December 1894, James Gaynor's daughter Elena Duggan (née Gaynor) donated two parcels of land for the construction of a railway station near Capilla del Señor. The station and the town that prospered in the nearby was named Diego Gaynor after her father.

Edmundo Murray

References

- Coghlan, Eduardo A., Los Irlandeses en la Argentina: Su Actuación y Descendencia (Buenos Aires, 1987), p. 392.

- Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Departamento de Investigación Histórica y Cartográfica, Dirección de Geodesia. José Pedro Thill, Mayo, 2002 (Mensura 119 of Nueve de Julio, Cuartel X, Loncagüé, Laguna La Unión).

- Mulhall, Frank, Saudades: a collection of obituaries from The Standard of Buenos Aires 1882-1898 (Buenos Aires, 1923), p. 76.

- Ortigüela, Raúl, Raíces Celtas: Los Cavanagh (Venado Tuerto, 1994).