An Italian historian, Fabio Troncarelli, professor of history at Viterbo University, made headlines in Ireland and Britain last year with his claim that the legend of Zorro is based on the real-life story of an Irishman from Wexford called William Lamport/ Lambert, Hispanicised to Guillen Lombardo. The following is based on those newspaper accounts. According to Professor Troncarelli there are copious references in the archives of the Inquisition to Lamport who was born in Wexford town in 1615 and died at the stake in Mexico in 1659. William Lamport was the son of Richard Lamport, a fisherman and later ship's captain, and Alonsa Sutton. His paternal grandfather was Patrick Lamport. After William's mother died, his father entered the priesthood. William was well-educated, having studied reading, writing, grammar and rhetoric in Wexford. He went to London and in the university there studied mathematics and Greek. While still a young boy he ran away to sea, after allegedly writing a defamatory pamphlet against the English king.He eventually made his way to Spain where he fought in Spain's war against the French. His bravery and skill came to the notice of the chief minister in Philip IV of Spain's court, Olivares who sent William/Guillen to Mexico. In Mexico Lamport led a double life, officially moving in the highest circles but also assuming a false identity to befriend local tribes, learning their healing skills and dabbling in astrology. This eventually brought him to the attention of the Inquisition which accused him of conspiring against Spain to liberate the native peoples. He was imprisoned for ten years but managed to escape. He returned to Mexico City, and taunted the Inquisition by emerging from his hiding place at night to plaster the city walls with satirical posters. William was something of a womaniser and it was this which eventually led to his capture (in bed with the wife of the Viceroy of Mexico). He was again jailed for seven years and then burned at the stake, though, according to Professor Troncarelli, Lamport managed to strangle himself with the rope used to tie him before the flames got to him. Lamport did not metamorphose into Zorro until 1872 when Vincente Palacio Riva, a retired Mexican general, tried his hand at an historical romance in the style of "The Three Musketeers" entitled "The Memoirs of an Imposter". The hero of the book is called Guillen Lombardo who leads a double life as a nobleman named Diego de la Vega, but is secretly plotting to overthrow Spanish rule and the power of the Inquisition. In 1919 a New York journalist, Johnston McCulley, reworked the tale, giving his hero that famous mask. The following year the first film "The Mark of Zorro", starring Douglas Fairbanks, appeared. Professor Troncarelli's book, based on his research in archives in Madrid, Rome, Dublin and Mexico City, was published last year.