Irish Memorial Update & Appeal

On March 17 2013, the Irish Memorial Committee announced its plans to erect a memorial in Lamoureux Park and much has taken place in this past year.

The location of the memorial has been determined; it will be located on west side of the Wood House Museum on museum property.

The memorial will be slightly over 8 feet in height and will have an inscription in English, French and Gaelic, commemorating the events of the summer of 1847 when 234 Irish Famine immigrants arrived in Cornwall suffering from typhoid. Fifty-two of those affected died over the June-to-October period in 1847.

At this point, the Committee has raised over $8000 towards its goal. These donations have come from individuals in the community and the recent appeal to businesses in the community.

We are now making our final appeal to the citizens and businesses of Cornwall to help put the fundraising campaign over the top.

The proposed date of dedication of the monument is October 2014 when the Celtic Cross monument will become a lasting memorial to this important moment in the history of the city of Cornwall and the event that had the greatest loss of life in the history of Cornwall.

Donations can be made by cheque to the S.D.& G. Historical Society, P.O. Box 773, Cornwall ON K6H 5T5

For further information, please contact Katie Burke at 613-933-8353 or k.a.burke@hotmail.com or Josie Donnelly at jdonnelly@sl.on.ca

Hello world!

Fifty-two out of 234 Irish emigrants died in Cornwall Ontario’s typhoid quarantine sheds between June 14th and October 18, 1847, making this the single largest human tragedy in the history of Cornwall and the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry. Until the discovery of the Cornwall Emigrant Hospital log book last year, the victims were nameless. Now that we know who they were, the SD & G Historical Society and the Irish Memorial Committee would like to erect a Celtic Cross to their memory near the site of the original quarantine hospital in Cornwall’s Lamoureux Park.

To complete this long overdue project we would like to request your donation to the Cornwall Irish Memorial. As a registered non-profit charity, the SD & G Historical Society will issue tax receipts for all donations $25 and over. All donors will be listed in a commemorative donor programme, to be kept at the Cornwall Community Museum, and invited to the unveiling ceremonies planned for October 2014.

Please send donations to:   SD&G Historical Society
PO Box 773,
Cornwall, Ontario
K6H 5T5