The Irish Monument Park Foundation issued the following news release.
Montreal, June 10, 2015 — For 150 years, Montreal’s Irish community has joined the Ancient Order of Hibernians as they remember the more than 6,000 victims of the Great Hunger, buried in what is now an industrial zone at the foot of the Victoria Bridge around the Black Rock.
In 2012, the Irish Monument Park Foundation proposed transforming the derelict site into a world-class, Irish cultural memorial-park similar to those found in Dublin, Boston, New York and Toronto. In order to honour the dead and mark Montreal’s history effectively, the proposal includes a museum, monument, meditation areas, a GAA Irish sports field and a beautiful green space that would double as a stunning entryway from the Victoria Bridge.
Directors of the Irish Monument Park Foundation are confident the project will move forward after meeting with Mayor Coderre on May 11. Mayor Coderre, who has Irish roots himself, agreed to champion the project by doing everything he can to “make it happen.”
The purpose of the new memorial park, according to Director Fergus V. Keyes, is “to remember these 6,000 immigrants who died; to honour the many French-speaking Quebec families who adopted, and gave homes to the almost 1,000 children who were orphaned by this tragedy; and to honour the many Montrealers who went out and gave aid to these poor immigrants and caught the fever and died themselves, including John Mills, who was mayor of Montreal at the time.”
Rain or shine, on Sunday, June 14 at noon, marchers will gather outside St. Gabriel’s Church at 2157 Centre St. in Point St. Charles.
The Annual Walk to the Stone is organized by the Ancient Order of Hibernians and is supported by the Irish Monument Park Foundation and Global Irish Famine Commemoration.
More details about the project can be found at the Irish Monument Park Foundation Website: www.montrealirishmonument.com