The Irish Commemorative Stone (also known as the Black Rock) is a monument in
Pointe-Saint-Charles
Pointe-Saint-Charles (also known in English as Point Saint Charles, and locally as The Point, or "PSC") is a neighbourhood in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Historically a working-class area, the creation of m ...
, island of Montreal,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
commemorating the deaths from "ship fever" (
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
) of 6,000 mostly Irish immigrants to Canada during the immigration following the
Great Irish Famine
The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a ...
in 1847-48. It is a 30-tonne, 10-foot high boulder.
Officially named the Irish Commemorative Stone, it is more commonly known as the Black Rock and also has been referred to as the Ship Fever Monument
or the Boulder Stone.
[Gallagher]
History
During the mid-19th century, workers constructing the
Victoria Bridge Victoria Bridge may be a reference to:
Bridges
;Australia
* Victoria Bridge, Brisbane, a road bridge across the Brisbane River in Brisbane
* Victoria Bridge, Devonport a road ridge across the Mersey River in Devonport, Tasmania
* Victoria Bridge, M ...
across the
St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
discovered a mass grave in
Windmill Point
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, Montreal, Victoria Bridge. The neighbourhood was built ...
where victims of the
typhus epidemic of 1847
The typhus epidemic of 1847 was an outbreak of epidemic typhus caused by a massive Irish emigration in 1847, during the Great Famine, aboard crowded and disease-ridden "coffin ships".
Canada
In Canada, more than 20,000 people died from 1847 to ...
had been quarantined in
fever shed
A pest house, plague house, pesthouse or fever shed was a type of building used for persons afflicted with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, smallpox or typhus. Often used for forcible quarantine, many towns and cities had o ...
s. The workers, many of whom were of Irish descent, were unsettled by the discovery and wanted to create a memorial to ensure the grave, which held the coffins of 6,000 Irish immigrants, would not be forgotten.
Erected on December 1, 1859, the stone was the first Canadian monument to represent the famine. The inscription on the stone reads:
"To Preserve from Desecration the Remains of 6000 Immigrants Who died of Ship Fever A.D. 1847-48
This Stone is erected by the Workmen of Messrs. Peto, Brassey and Betts Employed in the Construction of the Victoria Bridge A.D.
1859"
Located in the median of Bridge St., at approximately 45°29'12.3"N 73°32'46.6"W. Google maps have blurred out the inscription at a close distance but it still can be seen at a distance. On ACME Mapper the location is written N 45.48683 W 73.54638.
About 75,000 Irish people are believed to have emigrated to Canada during the famine. The official figures (from "the Report of a committee of the Honourable the Executive Council on matters of State"), gave the figures of 5,293 deaths at sea, and "Dr. Douglas, the medical Superintendent of Grosse Isle, estimated that 8,000 died at sea in 1847."
However, the ''
Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'' reported in 1934 that 18,000 Irish men, women and children died on the trip to Canada.
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]
Social significance
The Black Rock continues to be a significant icon, particularly within the Montreal Irish community led by the Ancient Order of Hibernians Canada. Each year at the end of May, the Canadian Irish community hosts a walk from St. Gabriel's church in Pointe St. Charles to the stone to commemorate those lives that were lost.
See also
* Ireland Park
Notes
References
* Gallagher, The Reverend John A. (1936
"The Irish Emigration of 1847 and Its Canadian Consequences"
CCHA Report, University of Manitoba Web site. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
External links
''Irish Central'', July 23, 2009.
{{coord, 45.4869, -73.5464, type:landmark_region:CA-QC, display=title
Irish-Canadian culture in Montreal
Monuments and memorials in Montreal
Irish emigrants to Canada
Great Famine (Ireland) monuments and memorials
Le Sud-Ouest
Epidemic typhus
Stone monuments and memorials
Epidemic monuments and memorials