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The Griffintown Horse Palace is a 
Foundation website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426015627/http://griffintownhorsepalace.com/english/ , date=2012-04-26 1860 establishments in Canada Buildings and structures in Montreal Irish-Canadian culture in Montreal Le Sud-Ouest Proposed museums in Canada Stables Irish diaspora museums Buildings and structures completed in the 19th century
stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
in the Griffintown district in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which dates back to around 1860. For three decades, the stables were run by former Goose Village
Goose Village (French: "Village-aux-Oies") was a neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its official but less commonly used name was Victoriatown, after the adjacent Victoria Bridge. The neighbourhood was built on an area formerly known ...
resident, iceman and calèche
A barouche is a large, open, four-wheeled carriage, both heavy and luxurious, drawn by two horses. It was fashionable throughout the 19th century. Its body provides seats for four passengers, two back-seat passengers vis-à-vis two behind the co ...
driver Leo Leonard, also known locally as Clawhammer Jack. Leonard, who was reported to be the last Irish Quebecer
Irish Quebecers (french: Irlando-Québécois, ga, Éireannaigh as Québec) are residents of the Canadian province of Quebec who have Irish ancestry. In 2016, there were 446,215 Quebecers who identified themselves as having partial or exclusive Ir ...
left in Griffintown, retired and moved to Nun's Island
Nuns' Island (officially Île des Sœurs; ) is an island located in the Saint Lawrence River that forms a part of the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is part of the borough of Verdun.
History
Originally called Île Saint-Paul in honour of the f ...
in 2011. The sale of his land around his Ottawa Street residence has cast the future of the stables in doubt. Leo and his stables are featured in an episode of Weird Houses (Home on the Range, 1999, season 4 episode 26). Montreal landscape architect Juliette Patterson has formed a foundation in an attempt to save the Horse Palace, which has also drawn support from the area's historic Irish community.
Though the stables are considered to have cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...
value by the City of Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...
, they are not a protected heritage site by the Province of Quebec. Patterson and her foundation would like to preserve the Horse Palace as a working stable for caleche horses serving nearby Old Montreal as well as a museum of 19th-century Montreal history. But the foundation has been unable as of December 2011 to raise enough money to purchase Leonard's land and buildings, which are now valued at over $1 million. The horse palace site includes the stables, a vacant 3,500-square foot lot, the Leonards' brick triplex and an aging former auberge, and is being sold in three separate lots.
References
External links
Foundation website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426015627/http://griffintownhorsepalace.com/english/ , date=2012-04-26 1860 establishments in Canada Buildings and structures in Montreal Irish-Canadian culture in Montreal Le Sud-Ouest Proposed museums in Canada Stables Irish diaspora museums Buildings and structures completed in the 19th century