Commemorative Site

Our Plan for a Memorial Green Space

Our Mission

The Montreal Irish Monument Foundation is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Irish immigrants who perished during the Great Famine. Our mission is to create a commemorative site that honors their legacy and educates the public about this significant historical event. Established in 2015, our foundation has worked tirelessly to bring this vision to life, collaborating with historians, architects, and the local community to ensure an accurate and respectful tribute.

Our Plan

A Place for all

The designs for the Irish Monument Park were completed in the fall of 2024 by Lemay, an award-winning architectural firm in Montreal. They paid close attention to honoring the deceased buried at the site, highlighting Montreal’s contributions to aiding famine refugees, and creating a vibrant space for the community to gather and celebrate Irish-Montreal and Quebec culture.

The Park Foundation undertook extensive consultations from 2017 to 2020 with the Ville de Montreal, Hydro-Québec, the Southwest Borough, consulting firms, and other stakeholders to arrive at a preliminary design that was unanimously accepted.

For more details, please refer to the webinar from March 18, 2021, available on this website.

The Irish Monument Park will commemorate the Irish who lost their lives in Montreal in the aftermath of the Famine. It will serve as a sanctuary to protect the sacred ground and the 6,000 souls who lie there, paying tribute to the many Montrealers who came to their aid.

This park will hold profound significance as a gathering place for the local Irish community, a pilgrimage site for the global Irish diaspora, and an important destination for those interested in this chapter of Montreal’s and Quebec’s history.

Construction on the park will begin in 2027-28, following the completion of the Hydro-Québec substation in 2024 and the redirection of Bridge Street and repurposing of la rue des Irlandais in 2026-27.

Historical maps of the site:

The Black Rock through the years

Pointe-Saint-Charles 1879

Pointe-Saint-Charles 1890

Pointe-Saint-Charles 1967

Pointe-Saint-Charles 2024

More images of the Rock

Project Updates

Ambassador’s Montreal Reception Oct 10 2024

October 10th, 2024Reception of the Ambassador of IrelandLyn Lonnergan-Doyle, Secretery and Member of the Board of MIMPFLisa Shortt, Community Development Advisor at SRQEA (Secrétariat au relations avec les Québécois d'expression anglaise)Bryan O’Gallagher, Honorary...

GLOBAL IRISH FAMINE WAY

Connecting the dots of the Irish diaspora The Montreal Irish Monument Park Foundation is thrilled to announce our participation in extending the Global Irish Famine Way to Canada! This meaningful project commemorates the journey of Irish emigrants during the...

The MIMPF has the opportunity to speak about the project to An Tánaiste, Micheál Martin (Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland)

At this year’s St. Patrick’s Luncheon, the Montreal Irish Monument Park Foundation was pleased to present signed copies of Alan Hustak’s new book called wrote ‘One Long Line of Marvel’ that highlights the history of the 200 years of St. Patrick’s Parades in Montreal to both the An Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and the Irish Ambassador to Canada.

Academia

Academic Papers and Archives

The following academic papers and archives are related to the Famine of 1847-48 in Montreal and efforts to protect and preserve the burial ground where 6000+ typhus victims are buried:

NUI Galway Virtual Irish Famine Archive curated by Dr. Jason King.

“Montreal’s Ship Fever Monument” by Dr. Colin McMahon.