By the time of Confederation in 1867, one quarter of the population of Canada were of Irish ancestry. Although the Irish had been immigrating to what is now Canada for a long time, the Irish famine years of 1845 to 1849 saw an increase in the number of immigrants. Immigration peaked in the summer of 1847; boatloads of Irish settlers arrived. Most were very poor and sick. They landed in a number of places along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, including Toronto. Thousands of those Irish immigrants died in Ontario that summer, mostly from typhus (or typhoid fever).
Ireland Park is home to a memorial in honour of those immigrants. It is on the waterfront between Lake Ontario and the old Canada Malting Co. silos.
Sections of limestone fit together in a shape that resembles a boat.
Names are engraved on the sides of the limestone sections. They are placed such that they are in the gaps between the sections. At first they are not visible. It is only when you are close to the stone that you can see the names.
675 names are carved in the stone. These are the known names of the 1000 to 1100 people who died shortly after they arrived in Toronto in the summer of 1847.
The park also has seven sculptures by Rowan Gillespie of Dublin Ireland.
The installation is called ‘Arrival’.
‘The Jubliant Man’ from behind.
‘The Apprehensive Man’
for more information: the Ireland Park Foundation website
