Information AboutGriffintown |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT GRIFFINTOWN | |
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It was once a prominent working-class Irish neighbourhood that in the nineteenth century was heavily involved in the construction of major structures such as the Lachine Canal and the Victoria Bridge . The area is now known as Faubourg des Recollets and bears little trace of its Irish heritage. "Many Irish immigrants who arrived through this gateway in the early and mid-1800s were escaping some of the harshest conditions of poverty and famine. In Ireland, land reform and famine had forced many to cast their eyes across the Atlantic Ocean, and close to half a million Irish made their way to Canada. For many their first introduction to North American life came at Griffintown. By no means a utopia, Griffintown at least offered employment and a sense of community in its shantytown existence. Although some observers reported that conditions in the "Griff" (as it was known) were not much better in some ways than the conditions the Irish masses had just fled, opportunities to work in the factories, the harbours, and on the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway, the Victoria Bridge and the Lachine Canal were welcome. In fact, modern industry in Canada was born on the Lachine Canal and one could say that Griffintown was its midwife. The Canal, which cut across Griffintown, attracted the greatest density of early industries in Montreal and made Griffintown Canada's most industrialized area. The Lachine Canal (the first major works program in the Canadas) set a pattern for providing work for the newly-arrived immigrants who settled in the Griff. For the Irish immigrants, it was the perfect job as it required nothing more technical than familiarity with a spade. The basic qualification was the stamina to endure a 15-hour day of back-breaking labour in the hot, humid Montreal summer. Working conditions along the Canal route for most Griffintowners were not unlike those portrayed by Dickens and in 1843, the first labour strike in Canada occurred with many a Griffintown labourer taking part." Source: Historical Backgrounder to "The Ghosts of Griffintown" by David O'Keefe EXTERNAL LINKS http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2004/031104/news2.html |
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