That new bronze resident on Dublin's John Rogerson's Quay has enjoyed superstar status in Buenos Aires and beyond. Such is the esteem in which "Almirante Brown" has been held in southern latitudes that that there are schools and streets named after him all over Argentina.
There's even a scientific research station bearing William Brown's moniker on the Antarctic Peninsula.
No Mayo accents mind, when I called almost 10 years ago while in pursuit of some Irish adventurers re-creating Shackleton's exploits. In fact, several of the scientific staff at the ice-bound research station seemed less than impressed by their patron's west of Ireland roots.
Hopefully, any such lack of enthusiasm among a younger Argentinian generation should have been dispelled by the recent visit by the Naval Service flagship, LE Eithne. Transporting Brown's statue home to Dublin - and leaving another for Foxford behind because it wasn't ready - was only one small part of the ship's mission when it was dispatched by the Government earlier this year almost halfway around the world.
The Foxford man was the official reason for the visit, given that the anniversary of his death is still marked almost 150 years after it occurred. "It is almost impossible to overstate the reverence and affection of the Argentine people for their first admiral. . ." the late maritime historian Dr John de Courcy Ireland wrote in his 1995 biography of him. The red-head was leader of an improvised fleet which was to break imperial Spanish power in the New World; he led a series of naval campaigns; suffered persecution, trial and imprisonment as a victim of political intrigue; and didn't forget his homeland when he returned to give money for relief in the Great Famine and supported Daniel O'Connell's campaign against the union.
During all that time, he was never happier than when on board the deck of a ship.
"I realise we are soon going to change anchorage - I have my pilot on board" were his last reported words before his death in 1857. The governor of Buenos Aires ordered the Argentinian naval fleet to fire 17 broadside salutes, one every quarter of an hour, on the day of his State funeral.
He was known for his unconventional approach and his humanitarian spirit, and these twin themes inspired LE Eithne Commander Mark Mellett and colleagues when planning the sojourn south. Obviously, there were demands for a trade mission, building on strong cultural links with Argentina, where there are an estimated 500,000 second and third-generation Irish, and developing links in Brazil and Uruguay. There was a cultural dimension, which included a far-travelled exhibition of paintings on board by Mayo artist Ger Sweeney.
However, there was also a humanitarian element, set up with a number of non-governmental organisations and Irish missionaries on the south Atlantic/American rim. The ship would distribute presents to sick children in hospital in Mar del Plata, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.
As Cdr Mellett records in a nine-week log which has been published on the Naval Association's website, the ship was "inundated with toys" before it set sail from various Irish donors.
In Argentina, the crew visited seriously ill children in a number of paediatric hospitals, and hosted many more on board. It took street kids from Rio de Janeiro around the vessel, while the ship's crew, including electricians, carpenters and engineers, repaired their shelter and prepared a vegetable garden on a farm. For Mellett, one of the most memorable parts was a journey in an Argentinian coastguard vessel several hundred kilometres up the Parana river, which rises in Brazil and flows along the border with Paraguay.
Destination was a school - yet another named after Brown - on the island of Los Laurelos, which was accessible only by boat. During the two-hour journey, bush fires burned on the riverbank as families fed on otter, a herd of wild horses galloped near the water's edge. One of the coastguard officers described how some five million people depended daily on the waters of Argentina.
The tricolour was flying as the party, including Mayo businessman JJ O'Hara, president of the Admiral Brown Society in Foxford, approached the school built on stilts and tucked behind high reeds.
After brief formalities, the Irish visitors set about installing a generator which had been transported over 6,000 miles from Cork harbour. The school's existing 24 volt wind/solar power system was "totally unserviceable".
After much work with leads and sockets, the generator sprang into action, there was a countdown. . . and there was light.
A large ghetto blaster was produced by the head teacher, and the children, with home-made flag, sash and bucket, marched on parade to their national anthem. The visitors eventually took their leave with many emotional farewells.
"With the sun setting to the west and the moon rising to the east, guess who overtakes us like a flagship doing a victory sail-by," Mellett wrote. Children, waving, cheering, shouting 'gracias' as they returned home - some of whom, he learned, would spend up to five hours a day on their school waterbus. . .
The LE Eithne's voyage to South America is on homepage.eircom.net/~navalassociation /index.htm