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The Irish in Canada
by E.B. Lapointe
One of the best websites for Irish
resources is the Marjorie Kohli website entitled, "Emigration
Information of the Nineteenth Century and the Ships They Came On," in
which there are lists of ships to Canada from Ireland.
The website, located at <http://www.dcs.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/thevoyage.html>,
has among other resources, the Irish Ancestral Research Association
website, on which there are names listed for the counties in Ireland.
The Canadian Genealogy Centre's excellent website at <http://www.genealogy.gc.ca/01/010202_e.html> is one to check for information on Grosse Île.
The database of 33,026 names listed includes some of
the immigrants who came to Canada from Ireland from 1832 to 1937, and who
stayed at the Grosse-Île
Quarantine Station on the island. By 1830, Quebec City was the main
port of entry for immigrants to Canada, two-thirds of which were Irish.
Information on the database includes, for
example, the name of the person, the name of the ship they sailed on to
Canada, the port of departure, the date they died, as well as the
reference and microfilm numbers. Information provided does vary per
person, although they may also have other data, such as if the person
was buried at sea, and so forth.
On the Parks Canada website at <http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/qc/grosseile/natcul/natcul3a_E.asp> is a virtual tour of Grosse Île
and a photo of the Irish Cross on the island (which, at 45 feet tall,
is impressive). Along with the other monuments and buildings on the
island, it is officially known as "Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site of Canada."
And yet another website to check is the one
for "Peter Robinson Immigrants: Irish Immigration to Canada,
1823-1825," especially from County Kerry. There is a surname list on
the website at <http://www.kawartha.net/~jleonard/robinson.htm>.
The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa <http://www.bifhsgo.ca> focuses
on immigrants from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales who settled
along the Ottawa, Gatineau and Rideau Rivers 200 years ago.
They are a very robust organization and have
member's interests on the site, including a very extensive resource of
United Kingdom and Irish sources.
There are articles on the "The Quebec Family History Society" at <http://www.cam.org/~qfhs> which also has very extensive Irish resources in its publications. Many Irish came to
Quebec, and that Irish feeling is still present in Montreal today, with
its annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, one of the biggest in North America.
Be sure to read The Irishman in Canada, written by Nicholas Flood Davin on "Our Roots," a Canadian website. This website, <http://www.ourroots.ca/e/home.asp>, not only displays Canada's local histories, but one can read the many books they now have online.
The Irish Society of the National Capital Region in Ottawa has articles on their website at <http://www.irishsocietyncr.com/history.htm>
of the Irish "navvies" who came there to build the Rideau Canada, the
longest canal in continuous operation in North America, as well as an
article on the Irish Pioneer Families in the Ottawa area.
There were a great number of Irish immigrants to the province of
New Brunswick during the Irish Famine of the 1840s. To this end, tons
of links to information on them can be found at <http://new-brunswick.net>.
As there is no direct URL for this information, you will have to start
by clicking on the map of New Brunswick to go to the main page. Click
on "NB Genealogy", then find the heading named "Misc. Genealogy". Below
it, note the sub-header "Inhabitants & Immigrants", and then click
on the link marked "Irish". Once connected, you will find such records
as the name of ships which came to New Brunswick, as well as lists of
people, including those that came through Partridge Island—the "Ellis
Island of Canada"—from 1785 to 1941.
Remember to use Canada GenWeb at <http://www.rootsweb.com/~canwgw>to find local Irish resources and references to the many Irish in Canada!
Return to the Canadian Connections home page.
Additional Articles
Finding Your Jewish Ancestor in Canada
Researching Aboriginal Ancestry
Black Loyalists to Nova Scotia
"A former newspaper reporter in Canada's capital, Ottawa, I
became interested in writing about genealogy when researching my own
ancestor, Andrew Barclay, an American Loyalist from Boston, Massachusetts,
early in 1990. Quickly, my interest spread beyond my own family, and by 1994,
I was editing a genealogy newsletter and by 1997, I was editing the Sourcing
Canada series of books. Since then, I have gone on to write "My Ancestor Was
French Canadian" and a series of booklets on Canadian genealogy. I love to
travel the Canadian and American countryside looking for interesting people
and places to photograph and to write about." - E.B. Lapointe
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© Copyright 2004 by E.B. Lapointe -- All Rights Reserved. This article may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written permission from the author.
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