How Irish orphans became F GROSSE ISLE. QUEBEC, 1847 — Why were thousands of trish orphans adopted by French Canadian families in ‘the mid- 1800s? . Tf you knew that the potato famine in Ireland during the 1840s triggered the migration of over 100,000 Irish citizens to Canada in 1847 atone. you may also know that thousands of those poor souls died of typhus or cholera before they had a chance to settle. Countless children found them- selves alone in a new land with nowhere to turn except to the com- passionate families of their new homeland. Most of the 1847 emigrants had been tenants on large Irish estates. In an over-populated country where the potato was the staple of the national diet, crops failed for two years in a row. Tenants were destitute and starv- ing and the landlords were eager to be rid of them. Whole counties with poetic names such as Limerick, Tipperary. Clare and Cork were devastated by famine and its companion diseases. SELECTION! ‘More games to choose from everyday! In April 1847, more than 28,000 families were cranuned into: wood- en transport ships bound for Quebee City, the main port of the St. Lawrence. Conditions were appalling. Many of the passengers were stricken with “famine fever” (typhus) before they boarded and once they were crammed into narrow bunks below the deck the disease spread quickly. Food and water aboard the ships were often in scarce supply. According to one observer, the straw beds were “teeming with abominations” and the bodies of the dead were often teft with the living who were too weak to carry them up on deck. Of the 240 passengers onboard one ship alone, nine died at sea and another 40 on arrival at the quaran- tine station of Grosse Isle, 46 km (29 miles) downstream from Quebec City. Dr. George Douglas, the medical officer in charge. realized that the facilities were not adequate to serve the massive Irish emigration. 66 In April 1847, more than 28,000 families were cranimed into wooden trans- port ships bound for Quebec City. 99 He begged the governinent of the Province of Canada to increase his staff and facilities. but was able to add only SO beds to his hospital, bringing accommodation to 200 beds, The oppressive heat of the sum- mer only worsened an already dis- astrous situation, and still the over- crowded ships kept arriving — 12.000 more immigrants disem- barked on June 1, another 14,000 a week liter. The number of sick at the Grosse Isle hospital totalled over 1,000. By October. when the harbor closed, four doctors had died along with 18 medical assistants. Two ministers and four priests were also felled by the disease. The immigrant toll was awful. A plaque crected ata mass grave N's FREE so, sign up today and let the games begin! Watch for these special MASTER PLAYER ' Events coming your way soon! Sunday, January 30, 1994 - North Shore News ~ 17 site notes: “In this secluded spot lie the mortal remains of 5.425 persons who, flying from pesti- lence and famine in 1847, found in North America but a grave.” Ultimately, the immediate victinis of the tragedy were the children, According to some estimates, children outnum- bered adults 54 to one. Father Charles Felix Cazeau,. Vicar General of the Diocese of Quebec, who was affectionately known as “the priest of the [rish.” worked tirclessly to have the desti- tute children taken in by parish homes, An impassioned appeal was made to the rural French-speaking population. Out of sympathy for the victims and their homeland, orphanages were careful to preserve the Trish identity of the children, keeping a record of their natural parents, their parish and county of origin and the vessel that brought them over. The records also include many of the names and addresses of the rench Canadians foster families, most of them French Canadian. In Quebec Cily alone there are records of 619 such edoptions, For example, five-year-old Pat Noonan, who entered Canada from the ship Odessa in 1847, was the son of Patrick and Mary (nee Coleman) of County Westmeath, and was adopted by Louis Leblanc of St. Gregoire. In fact. all six of the Noonan orphans went to families in St. Gregoire und the records show young Pat's five sisters married French Canadians. In 1909, 9,000 people, many of them descendants of the survivors, gathered at Grosse Isle to dedicate a monument and ponder the meaning of the past, Among the participants were several French-speaking people who bore witness to the events 62- years before by simply stating: “I was taken us a nameless child from this land (Ireland) and given to a family who did not let me forget that T was frish.” (This article is part of the CRB Foundation’s Herilage Project. For more information calt 1-800-567- 1867.) DEALS ON Preplayed PREPLAYED VIDEO GAMES “. © SNES™ ¢ SEGA Genesis™ » SEGA CD™ * Game Boy" « Game Gear™ * Turbo Grafix™ * Top 50 Rental Titles * SNES, Genesis ‘Accessories, Hardware and Magazines Bring in your games and “hardware & trade up for new! ¢ Big Screen Tournaments ° High Score Competitions ° Membership Draws “Parsons under the age of 16 i ba required to have pareniaiquartan authorization to rent, soli of trade games at Master Player. 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