of Grosse-Ile (Saint-Lawrence River, Québec) where thousands of Irish immigrants had to be quarantined, bearing typhus after they crossed the Atlantic (30-40 days) in overloaded coffin ships: (Irish gaelic-to-English translation, Edward Laxton, The Famine Ships, Owl books): Children of the Gael,
died in thousands on this island,
Having fled from the laws,
of their foreign tyrants,
And an artificial famine
in the years 1847-48*
God’s loyal blessing upon them,
Let this monument be a token,
to their name and honour,
From the Gaels of America
Grosse-ÃŽle was profaned by the Canadian Army during World War II, as it was used to perform chemical and bacteriological tests.The French Patriotes leader, Louis-Joseph Papineau,
along with the Irish Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan
(creator of the Dewey librarian classification system),
have been recognized as major politicians between 1833-1837,
for the introduction of a representative system for Québec
(then called Lower Canada).
While their work was abruptly interrupted
by the violent rebellion of the Patriotes in 1837-1838
against the British government, and their subsequent exile,
the platform they defended ultimately triumphed
in future constitutional reforms,
which gave rights to Quebecers...