For those of us who were unable to take part in yesterday’s walking tour of Irish Montreal, there is an online opportunity to take a free self-guided tour of Griffintown, a former working class, industrial neighbourhood just south of downtown Montreal.
The Griffintown Tour takes viewers on a walking tour of 21 historic sites in Montreal’s iconic Griffintown neighbourhood, the once thriving community of predominantly working class Irish and French Canadians that has all but disappeared. Only a handful of original civic, residential and industrial sites remain.
On Stop #21 of the online tour of Montreal’s Griffintown, Dr. Matthew Barlow takes visitors to where St. Ann’s Church stood, once the heart of Griffintown’s Irish Catholic community. Built in 1854, it was Montreal’s second English Catholic church after St. Patrick’s (1847).
In 21 short films, Irish historian and author Dr. Matthew Barlow recounts the social history of Griffintown, including, the New City Gas Company of Montreal, the Darling Brothers Foundry, and the former Dow Brewery.
The tour was conceived and created by visual artist, animator, and filmmaker G. Scott MacLeod, who worked in collaboration with Dr. Barlow to blend archival photos with his own animations.
Although new constructions and gentrification have brought a condo boom to Griffintown, the community endures in memory through books, films, and Dr. Barlow’s stories.
Start your tour on the Griffintown Tour website.
As for an actual, real-life walking tour of Irish Montreal, there’s another one taking place March 26.
