Committee approves Irish famine monument for Lowertown park

A monument to honour people who died after fleeing the 19^th century Irish famine will be built in a park in Ottawa's Lowertown neighbourhood.

The Built Heritage Committee approved a plan to erect an Irish Famine Grave Monument at Macdonald Gardens Park, located near Rideau and Cobourg streets, in memory of the victims of the Great Irish Famine whose remains lie in Ottawa.

A motion for the committee says there is evidence that the former Catholic graveyard at Macdonald Gardens Park contains the remains of victims of the Great Irish Famine of 1845 to 1851.

"They were among the thousands of Famine refugees who arrived in Bytown in the summer of 1847, malnourished and often suffering from typhus," says the motion, tabled by Coun. Theresa Kavanagh.

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Kavanagh told councillors, "these shoes represent journeys and the struggles of Irish immigrants from many years ago and it's a reminder of the hardships faced by anyone who is a refugee."

"The location in this park is a fitting location for this memorial. It not only holds historic significance, but it's the site of where many Irish immigrants are buried."

The monument is a small pair of bronze shoes that is part of an international trail of Irish famine victims, according to the motion.

Michael McBane of the Global Irish Famine Way Local Committee Ottawa told councillors the series of bronze shoes around the world will educate people.

"This project represents a multicultural moment of reconciliation," McBane said. "It involves the Irish, it involves French Canadians, Catholics and Protestants and several Indigenous communities who sent famine relief during 1847. It celebrates Canadian compassion as well as Irish resilience."

McBane says the committee is asking the city to recognize, "the full extent of this park's heritage."

Some residents and groups, including the Lowertown Community Association, raised concerns about the installation of the Irish Famine monument in the park.

"The installation of an individual monument in Macdonald Gardens Park recognizing a specific group of individuals is problematic," the association said in a letter to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and Coun. Stephanie Plante.

"The significance of Macdonald Gardens as a former cemetery shared by four denominations is already recognized in several ways. This much-loved and actively used neighbourhood park is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as a significant landmark encompassing four separate cemeteries where Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists and Roman Catholics were buried between 1840 and 1870."

Plante said she understands why people might not want the monument, but is looking forward to having it at the park.

"We don't have a lot of green spaces in Ward 12, so people are very, very protective of them. And, you know I share that perspective," said Plante. "But, you know, I'm looking forward to having it, and I'm looking forward to if there's a commemoration ceremony to having it at Macdonald Gardens Park."

The association suggested several other locations for the monument, including near the head of the Rideau Canal, near the former St. Brigid's Roman Catholic Church or near Elisabeth Bruyere Hospital.

"The period surrounding the Irish Famine is very significant in Ottawa’s early history and the part played in Lowertown by the residents was crucial," the association said. "We suggest serious consideration of more appropriate and central locations for this monument; places that are more accessible to the many residents and visitors interested in our city’s Irish legacy."

The group 'Friends of the Macdonald Gardens Park' is concerned about placing any monuments in the park.

"As recent history shows, preservation and protection of this historic park requires close cooperation and concerted efforts from the community as a whole," Ilona Horvath said. "I think we can be all proud of what has been achieved in the last 30 plus years."

Horvath says while the group welcomes the idea of a monument in Ottawa, there has been little public consultations on the proposal for the Lowertown park.

"We are worried if approved, the motion may set a precedent for future requests," Horvath said, calling on the committee to delay a decision until the Heritage Conversation Plan consultations are finalized.

"How many memorials can this relatively small neighbourhood park accommodate? We do not want to see this historically designated neighbourhood park potentially converted into a memorial park."

The Ottawa and District Labour Council says the proposal for the monument should create "excitement and enthusiasm" in the city.

"There exists several Irish famine monuments in Canada and North American," President Sean McKenny said, adding opposition to the monument is "bizarre."

"The instillation at Macdonald Gardens Park being proposed is a tiny pair of bronze shoes on a pedestal approximately three feet high.  Opposition, then, couldn't possibly be attributed to the proposed size of the famine monument."

The motion says the memorial will remember the victims of the Great Irish Famine, thank Canada for its response to the Irish humanitarian disaster and "enrich the public experience of the existing city park by introducing a sobering reminder of the original purpose of the site as a resting place."

The costs to ship, produce and install the memorial will be covered by the fundraising efforts for the Bytown Famine Monument Committee.

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Jackie Perez.