Middle Island Irish Historical Park Inc. is soliciting
the public's assistance in gathering information on the history of Middle Island and of Irish immigration to Northumberland
County. If you have any information, pictures, or memories you would like to share, please contact the office at (506) 778-8810.
Crafters
cottages will house Irish and Irish Canadian exhibits. There will be costumed interpreters presenting typical household
and craft demonstrations. The cottages will also provide classroom space for lessons covering the Irish language, myths and
legends, history, dance and crafts.
A
Celtic Cross-shaped meadow or promenade, which measures 62 metres in length and 18 metres in width, is defined by
a free-standing sandstone wall. At the apex of the cross, strollers will find a Memorial Standing stone dedicated to the Irish
Immigrants who laid the foundation for many of the communities along the Miramichi.
Other
attractions for the park may include an amphitheatre, pedestrian walkway, museum and gift shop.
A Short History of Middle Island
Middle Island has
always played an important role in the Miramichi area's history. Located within the City of Miramichi, the island has a twin
lake one mile inland. This lake is almost identical in shape and size and is named, plainly enough, "The Lake." There are
many legends on how the island and lake came to be but the favorite of the Irish people in the area is that the island was
made by leprechauns who moved the soil by hand from the inland in doing so created The Lake.
In July of 1827 the ship the Eleanor arrived with about two hundred people
and much sickness aboard. A quarantine station was erected on Middle Island to look after the immigrants arriving suffering
from cholera, typhus, dysentery and small pox.
Records show that from 1834 to 1839 no disease was introduced into the
Port of Miramichi. In 1839 a ship arrived with small pox on board and Middle Island was once again used as a quarantine station.
As the Miramichi area was settling and growing the great potato famine
hit Ireland. Many Irish ventured across the Atlantic to the New World, but due to the unsanitary conditions and extreme overcrowding,
the ships became plagued with sickness and disease.
On June 3, 1847, the Looshtauk out of Dublin arrived. She was on the water
seven weeks with 467 passengers. One hundred seventeen died on the passage. Another one hundred were too sick to be saved.
Dr. John Vondy was appointed to attend the sick at Middle Island. On June
4, the brig Richard White arrived with more sick. The following week, the barque Bolivar arrived with seven of the crew ill.
Many immigrants died on the island and some were brought ashore by night to be buried; however, over 100 were buried on the
island itself.
Dr. Vondy worked day and night to attend to the sick but he, too, took
sick and was confined to bed on the 25th of June. He died on July 2nd at the age of twenty-six. his remains were placed in
an airtight double coffin and taken to St. Paul's Church for burial. Beloved by the community he served, upon hearing of his
death, all shops closed and business suspended throughout the day.
In 1986 the Miramichi Irish Festival erected a Celtic Cross surrounded
by the world's largest growing shamrock in memory of these immigrants and each year, during the festival, many come to pay
their respects.
