O'Leary is a village located in

Prince County, Prince Edward Island Prince County is located in western Prince Edward Island, Canada. The county's defining geographic feature is Malpeque Bay, a sub-basin of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which creates the narrowest portion of Prince Edward Island's landmass, an isthm ...

, about 60 kilometers west of Summerside. Its population in the

2021 Canadian Census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

was 876 people. O'Leary was incorporated as a village in 1951, and as a community in 1983.

History

Michael O'Leary

The village is named after Michael O'Leary, an Irish settler who arrived in Prince Edward Island in 1837. Michael O'Leary settled with his wife in what is now the town of O'Leary. In 1837, western Prince Edward Island was sparsely settled, with no roads and only a small amount of cleared land, so O'Leary himself cleared a road through the wilderness to his property from Cascumpeque; this became O'Leary Road, today part of Route 142, which is the town's main street. In 1858, after the death of his wife, Michael O'Leary returned to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

at an old age. He found only a few relatives and no friends, so he returned to Canada. He never made it back to Prince Edward Island, though; reportedly, he was pushed off a

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, and drowned.

O'Leary Railway Station

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

was built in O'Leary by the year 1874. The station was called the O'Leary Road Station, and the name "O'Leary" eventually came to refer to the settlement. The development of cars and transport trucks later rendered the train almost obsolete; the last train passed the O'Leary Station in 1989, and in 1992 the tracks were removed. The original railroad became the

Confederation Trail Confederation Trail is the name for a 273 kilometre recreational rail trail system in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. It was developed in the 1990s, following the December 31, 1989, abandonment of all railway lines in the provin ...

. The O'Leary Railway Station still stands today at 513 Main Street, although it is no longer a train station. Oleary railway station pei

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, O'Leary had a population of people living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Economy

The community's economy is tied to the potato farming industry. O'Leary is home to the Canadian Potato Museum.

Stores and services

The O'Leary Town Complex, at 18 Community Street includes a

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respo ...

and a library. The fire department was started in about 1939 by a group of citizens and currently has approximately 30 members. The O'Leary Farmer's Co-op is the town's main grocery store, located at 500 Main Street and typically open all week. Other shops in this community include a PharmaChoice, a

Home Hardware Home Hardware Stores Ltd. is an independent home improvement retailer located in Canada. Co-founded by Walter Hachborn in 1964, and headquartered in St. Jacobs, Ontario, the company has close to 1,100 stores that operate under one of four banners ...

, O'Leary Auto Parts, a Castle Building Centre, and a Medicine Shoppe.

Climate

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:O'leary, Prince Edward Island Communities in Prince County, Prince Edward Island Towns in Prince Edward Island