—Toronto’s Irish Heritage Bus Tour

FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2010

Toronto has been home to people of Irish descent since the city’s beginnings as the Town of York in 1793. Through the 19th and 20th centuries the Irish, both Protestant and Catholic, have been one of the Toronto’s—and Ontario’s largest ethnic groups.

On Friday, May 14, join the Toronto’s Irish Heritage bus tour for a day exploring the Irish connections in Toronto.

The cost is included in the Friday Daytime Package. Lunch and admission to all sites is included.

NOTE: The bus tour is now full. No more registrations will be accepted.

TOUR ITINERARY

The day starts at 8:45 am when you board a chartered bus at the Conference hotel. Then you will travel, with your tour co-ordinator to the following venues where you will be met by additional guides to help you understand each stop on the tour.

Ireland Park. Ireland Park on Toronto’s waterfront, opened in 2007 by Ireland’s President Mary McAleese, commemorates the 1847 arrival of some 38,000 Irish Famine refugees who inundated Toronto (population 20,000). Many of the refugees moved on to other parts of Ontario. See sculptor Rowan Gillespie’s “The Arrival” that echoes his “Departure” sculpture on Dublin’s quayside, look for your ancestor’s name engraved on the commemorative limestone pillars and hear the story of the research behind the project.

Corktown. Corktown was the colloquial name for this historic neighbourhood near King and Parliament streets that in the 19th century was dominated by the working class Irish. A walking tour will be led by guides from the Royal Ontario Museum’s ROM Walk program, and will include Little Trinity Anglican Church, Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, the site of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn’s home, workers’ cottages, and much more.

Relax over lunch (provided) at Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, the oldest existing ‘free’ school in Canada.

St. Paul’s Basilica. The present Italian Renaissance style church was built in 1889. The parish, established in 1822, was the first Roman Catholic parish in Upper Canada between Kingston and Windsor. Serving a largely Irish population, many early parishioners and fever victims were buried in the adjacent churchyard.

Cabbagetown. Named dismissively in the 19th century for the cabbages and other vegetables grown by the thrifty Irish immigrants who settled in the area—mostly to the south of the present-day neighbourhood, Cabbagetown is now one of Toronto’s most sought-after addresses and an enclave of restored Victorian homes of every size and shape.

Toronto Necropolis Cemetery. The picturesque Necropolis was the second non-sectarian cemetery in Toronto. Opened in 1850, it provided the final resting place for many Corktown and Cabbagetown Irish and other Torontonians from all walks of life. ROM Walk guides will provide tours.

5:00 pm (approximately)
Arrive back at the Conference hotel in plenty of time to join other registrants for dinner and evening events.