Isle Madame is an island off southeastern

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. It is part of the

Municipality of the County of Richmond The Municipality of the County of Richmond is a county municipality on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. It provides local government to the eponymous historical county, except for the Chapel Island 5 reserve. The municipality also cont ...

. Once part of the French colony of Île-Royale, it may have been named for

Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon Françoise d'Aubigné (27 November 1635 – 15 April 1719), known first as Madame Scarron and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon (), was a French noblewoman who secretly married King Louis XIV. Although she was never considered queen of France ...

. After the fall of

Louisbourg Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. History The French military founded the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1713 and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour, ...

in 1758, 4,000 inhabitants were deported. However, a group of 10 Acadian families from Port Toulouse fled to this Isle Madame where their descendants still live today. It is separated from Cape Breton Island by the Lennox Passage, but connected by a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

. The island is also connected by bridge to

Petit-de-Grat Island Petit-de-Grat Island is a Canadian island off the coast of Cape Breton Island, in Richmond County, Nova Scotia. The island's main community is Petit-de-Grat. The first settlers came from the Basque region of Spain in 1714. Petit-de-Grat Island i ...

, and by causeway and bridge to

Janvrin Island Janvrin Island is a Canadian island off the coast of Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia in Richmond County. Janvrin Island, named for the family of John Janvrin, a merchant trader of Jersey, Channel Islands, is connected by a bridge to neighbouring ...

. Since 1994, the island has been served by a community television station,

CIMC-TV CIMC-TV, branded as Telile, is a community channel based in Arichat, Nova Scotia, broadcasting on channel 10 over the air, and cable channels 4 (on EastLink Cable), and 63 (Seaside Cable). On January 12, 2013, the station was also added by Bell ...

, also known as Telile. Isle Madame is home to approximately 4,300 residents located mostly in the island's communities of

Arichat Arichat is an unincorporated place in the Municipality of the County of Richmond, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the main village on Isle Madame on the southeastern tip of Cape Breton Island. Toponym The name derives from a Mi'kmaq word meaning c ...

, D'Escousse, and Petit de Grat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madame, Isle Islands of Nova Scotia Landforms of Richmond County, Nova Scotia