Hydro-Québec and Montréal Undertake to Honor the Memory of Irish Immigrants

Hydro-Québec and the Ville de Montréal are establishing a partnership with Montréal’s Irish community to create a park in commemoration of the 6,000 Irish immigrants who died of typhus in 1847.

In the coming months, Hydro-Québec, Montréal and representatives of the Irish community will form a working committee to plan the integration of the commemorative park into future Hydro-Québec project. Hydro-Québec will also conduct archeological digs at this relatively undocumented historic site and share the findings with the Irish community.

“We are fully aware of the importance of this site for the Irish community and will show the utmost respect toward the burial grounds,” said Éric Martel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hydro-Québec. “We will contribute to the creation of this long-awaited commemorative park.”

“It is important to me that Irish community, one of the city’s founding peoples, have access to a space where it can gather to remember those who have gone before, having dreamt of the Montréal that we know today. My administration is committed to actively participating in the working committee in order to quickly come to a solution that is acceptable to all,” said Mayor of Montréal, Denis Coderre. 

A commemorative march takes place each year, ending at Black Rock, which was erected on Rue Bridge in 1859.

Hydro-Québec plans to acquire the land adjacent to Rue Bridge, across from Black Rock, the current memorial to the Irish, to build a new substation. The substation will meet growing demands for electricity and will power the future Réseau électrique métropolitain light rail project. Currently still in the planning stage, the project will be detailed further in coming years with the commissioning of the new substation scheduled for 2023.