Eyewitness Grosse Ile 1847

Eyewitness Grosse Ile 1847 by Marianna O’Gallagher and Rose Masson Dompierre

Ireland was stricken with famine in the 1840s, and about 80 000 Irish men, women and children immigrated to Canada.  Many were kept at the quarantine station of Grosse Ile and there, about 5000 or more are buried.

The book Eyewitness Grosse Ile 1847  tells the story of the chaplains who cared for these poor people.  Forty seven Roman Catholic and seventeen Anglican chaplains worked for the summer – boarding the ships, giving the sacraments in the hospitals, and tending to the burials

 Contents of Eyewitness Grosse Ile:

 The complete church records, Anglican (Saint John the Evangelist) and Catholic (Saint Luke) for the summer of 1847 on Grosse Ile (baptisms, marriages, and burials.)

Letters from the priests to their respective  Bishops of Quebec

Newspaper accounts of events in Ireland, Scotland and England

The Royal Commission Report of July – graphic details as a result of the inquiry into conditions on Grosse Ile.  Testimony of priests, doctors, and hospital attendants, Royal Commission.

Report of Dr. George Mellis Douglas, the medical superintendent of the island

Report of the Anglican Bishop of Quebec, George Jehoshaphat Mountain  who served three terms as chaplain Biographies of the chaplains and their photos.

List of all the ships, port of origin, days in quarantine, number of passengers, deaths at sea or in port.

The book is in strict chronological order, with newspaper accounts and letters that allow the reader to experience the day-by-day events. It is valuable for genealogists – the church registers contain the names of surviving relatives and friends of victims buried at Grosse Ile.

Quebec Carraig Books, 1995, 432 pages, illustrations including facsimiles of signatures of priests and doctors on inside covers, maps, tables, indices of family names, ship names, general index, bibliography.  ISBN 0-9690805-9-X Paperback 

 (French Les Témoins parlent Grosse Île 1847 ISBN 0-9698581-0-8  )