Conference tallis::celt

    Will do!!!
    
    Pat

    
    OK, Pat!
    
     Hope there is enough response up there by the people, so that it isn't
    covered up!
    
    

    Well, the Canadian Broadcorping Castration (CBC) ran a one hour program
    last night on the Grosse �le dedication.
    
    Unfortunately, I only happened to catch it at the halfway point, but I
    did videotape that portion.
    
    I'll view it tonight and add my comments here tomorrow.
    
    From what I saw of the snippets that I was able to catch, the Canadian
    government did the typical Canadian thing...compromised - a little bit
    of the truth and a little bit of omission of the nasty truth.
    
    The Irish ambassador to Canada was present at the dedication and
    referred to Grosse �le as "...the most Irish piece of land outside
    Ireland".  This is probably true as 15,000 Irish citizens are buried
    there.
    
    Pat

    Is there any record of who is buried there?  Any grave
    markers or is it an anonymous plot?
    
    /g

    
    
    Dead People

    There are markers (white crosses) over mounds covering about two acres
    but no names.  There are very little, if any, shiplists of the poor
    souls who arrived on Grosse �le.
    
    I viewed the tape (�hour of a 1 hour show) last night, and although I
    missed the first �hour the second stands on its own.  It is definitely
    worth viewing!
    
    What amazes me is the struggle the immigrants went through:
    
    	1. Survive the famine.
    
    	2. Get the money, or good fortune, to acquire passage to Canada.
    
    	3. Survive the crossing (33% didn't).
    
    	4. Survive the fever sheds on Grosse �le (another 33% didn't).
    
    	5. Survive their first Canadian winter (many froze to death in
    	   their first year).
    
    From the video, there are many different opinions about what should be
    done with Grosse �le.  Parks Canada wants to make it a heritage theme
    park; those opposed, consider that a theme park built over graves is a
    sacrilege (indeed!).  The Celtic cross monument, the fever sheds, the
    chapel and the mass grave markers will always remain and be maintained. 
    But Action Grosse �le and Oilean na nGael insist that the tragic
    events of the past must be mentioned on a plaque, and there should not
    be a theme park.  The federal government and the Qu�bec provincial
    government view the theme park as a revenue-generating venture.
    
    Even Canadians of Irish ancestry have mixed views (some similar to the
    nationalists, others just want to mention the past but move on).
    
    One very interesting bit was an interview with a fellow who wrote a
    book based on a diary from the Grosse �le experience.  The diary was
    written by a Gerald Keegan.  When the book which was based on the diary
    was written the author chose to use Keegan's name instead of his own as
    the author.  Apparently, the book is selling quite well in Ireland 
    (it's called "Famine Diary")
    
    The struggle isn't over yet.
    
    Pat

    
    OK, so what and where is Grosse Ile.  I gather it's in Canada.
    Was it sort of like a Canadian  Ellis Island?
    
    Steve
    

    It's not in Canada, it's in Quebec. Just kidding, eh!
    I believe it's a little island not far from Quebec City.
    
    Yes, it was one of the port-of-calls for immigrants.
    More Irish immigrants came through Quebec than any other
    (including Boston and NY).
    
    Port-of-call for many famous clans, the Roys and Rushtons
    to name but a few. ;v)

    Actually, Grosse �le was strictly a quarantine island not an immigrant
    processing port, such as Ellis Island.  If a fever ship entered the St.
    Lawrence River, it was to anchor off Grosse �le and disgorge the
    hapless passengers.  They would be examined, treated, quarantined and
    then if they were free of disease, they would be sent upstream to
    Qu�bec, Montr�al, and Kingston for immigration processing.
    
    >>Port-of-call for many famous clans, the Roys and Rushtons
    >>to name but a few. ;v)
    
    Although my mother (an O'Brien) and I feverishly crossed the Atlantic
    during WW2, we didn't land near Grosse �le but rather Halifax, NS...but
    that's another story.   ���
    
    Korff O'Barbunk

    Thanks for the corrections Pat!
    
    I checked the map in Grosse-�le is a small island about 30 miles
    northwest of Qu�bec City, further north of the more famous Ile
    d'Orl�ans, in the St. Lawrence River.
    
    The quarantine station operated from 1832 to 1916, while it closed
    in 1937.
    
    The Celtic monument on the western part of Grosse-�le reads, in Irish
    "Cailleadh Clann na nGaedheal ina m�ltibh ar an Oile�n so ar dteicheadh
    dh�ibh � dl�ghthibh na dt�or�nach ngallda agus � ghorta tr�arach isna
    bliadhantaibh 1847-48. Beannacht d�lis D� orra. B�odh an leacht so i
    gcomhartha garma agus on�ra dh�ibh � Ghaedhealaibh Amerioc�. Go
    saoraigh Dia �ire."
    
    "Children of the Gael died in their thousands on this island having
    fled from the laws of the foreign tyrants and an artificial famine in
    the years 1847-48. God's loyal blessing upon them. Let this monument be
    a token to their name and honor from the Gaels of America. God save
    Ireland."
    
    A sacred place for Irish-American/Canadian peoples.  At least one for
    rememberence.

    Does both the Irish and the English translation appear on the monument?
    
    If so, then at least there is some indication that the events weren't
    totally ignored with vague rhetoric.
    
    Pat

    I believe just the Irish.  I'll send you the article - quite
    interesting and in depth...
    
    /g

                GROSSE ILE ISSUE BONDS CANADIANS
                       by Patrick Campbell
              from The Irish Echo. August 31, 1994


                        ****************

     A controversy has been raging between Irish organizations
and the Canadian government over the development of Gross Ile, an
island in the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, into a theme park
with a focus on immigration. Parks Canada, the government agency
which manages the Canadian national parks, would like to make
Grosse Ile a Canadian version of Ellis island. But its marketing
tactics have infuriated Irish Canadians who view Grosse Ile as a
shrine to the 15,000 Irish immigrants who died there from fever
between 1832-47, with 5,000 alone dying in 1847 after fleeing the
famine.

     Irish Canadians insist Grosse Ile was never an immigration
center, but rather was an area where fever victims were taken off
ships and kept in isolation until they either got well or died.
To turn it into a theme park, they argue, would  show disrespect
for the thousands of Irish who died.

     Parks Canada has not backed down in the face of Irish
opposition, but a spokesperson for  the agency said that the plan
for the island will be revised to reflect the Irish dimension of
the island's history. In previously published plans, the tragedy
of Irish immigration was played down.

     The horror of Grosse ile during 1857 could  not possibly be
exaggerated. As countless thousands fled stricken Ireland
besieged by hunger and disease, they believed they would find a
haven in either the United States or Canada, but many of them
found only a grave in Grosse Ile, or in other isolated areas
along the Canadian coast.

     Thousands of other perished at sea, their bodies thrown
overboard. Indeed, the seabed from Ireland to North America is
strewn with the remains of Irish people who fled one horrors only
to become victim to another one.

     Those who disembarked at Grosse Ile had not a great chance
of survival because of the horrendous, unhygienic conditions on
the island.

     Sick and dying immigrants were crowded into long sheds. This
crowding led to the rapid transmition of disease and a great
difficulty in curing any of the patients who were sick.

     One of the special horrors of Grosse Ile was that thousands
of children were made orphans, who were often separated from
their brothers and sisters and raised in different families or in
separate orphanages.

     The depth of trauma for these children--who had been
uprooted from their home in Ireland by famine and pestilence,
survived the terrors of the coffin ships, and then the deaths of
their parents and separation from their brothers and sisters--is
hard to imagine.

     Many were adopted by Catholic French-Canadians, who out of
kindness to the children and in memory of their parent, allowed
them to keep their Irish names.

     Grosse Ile was largely neglected and ignored for many years
after the famine. But there were always small groups of pilgrims
who went out there in boats to visit the mass graves. Some of
these were survivors who made  it off the island alive; others
were adults whose parents were buried on the island.

     In 1909, a large Celtic Cross monument was erected on the
island in memory of the 15,000 who died there, and since then a
steady stream of people of Irish descent have gone to the island
to pay their respects.

     In a recent state visit to Canada, President Robinson of
Ireland went to Grosse ile and spoke about the tragic links with
Ireland. Her visit emphasized the Irish dimensions of the island
and that it would always occupy a very important place in Irish
history. She also used the visit to plea for international help
for famine victims in Rwanda and Somalia.

     More than 400 members of the Canadian Irish community showed
up to hear President Robinson speak at Grosse Ile and to thank
her for drawing attention to this very important site in Canada.

     The Grosse Ile issue is one issue that unites them all, not
only because of it dramatic relationship with Irish history in
Canada, but because Parks Canada seemed to be willing to play
down the immensity of this tragedy for purely commercial reasons.

                          ************


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    On Monday evening (31 Oct. 1994), CBC (Canadian Broadcorping
    Castration) radio broadcast "The Famine Irish in Canada" from 9-10PM
    EST.
    
    I taped it as I didn't have time that evening (Halloween, eh!) to
    listen to it.  Subsequently, I played it back and was amazed at the
    breadth of the information and the contributors to the program.  There
    were historians from Ireland, USA and Canada interviewed.
    
    BTW, this program was not about Grosse �le, but about the larger
    picture of pre- and post- Famine Irish immigration to Canada.
    
    For those who are interested, there is a reading list available, for
    free, from:
    
    			Ideas
    			P.O. Box 500
    			Station "A"
    			TORONTO, Ontario
    			M5W 1E6
    			CANADA
    
    Mention the program "The Famine Irish in Canada".
    
    Also, a transcript of the program is available for CA$7.50 (+GST for
    Canadian residents) from:
    
    		Ideas Transcript
    		P.O. Box 500
    		Station "A"
    		TORONTO, Ontario
    		M5W 1E6
    		CANADA
    
    Again, mention the program "The Famine Irish in Canada"
    Or, you can order the transcript over the telephone by calling:
    
    		1-800-363-1530  (and have a credit card handy).
    
    
    
    Sl�n,
    
    Pat