Ontario and Quebec's Irish Pioneers: Farmers, Labourers and Lumberjacks (Monthly Meeting)
10:00 am to 11:30 am
The Chamber, Ben Franklin Place 101 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa, Ontario
Using wide-ranging sources, Lucille Campey will describe the communities established by the Irish in Ontario and Quebec during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She will reveal the considerable pioneering achievements of the Irish, while debunking the victim-ridden interpretations of more recent times.
The Irish were early birds. They arrived in mid Canada long before the English and became assimilated in the wider population much sooner. They had left their homeland to achieve a better standard of living and be part of a more egalitarian society and were phenomenally successful. By 1871 they were the largest immigrant group in Ontario and, in Quebec, outnumbered the combined total of Scottish and English immigrants. They founded many communities and had an immense impact on the economic development of both provinces.
The ships that brought them are also discussed and an overview is provided of the events in Ireland and Canada that shaped this immigration saga.
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