Galloping Geezer
 
"Photo Credit to Julie Ann Biggs out on the Mekong River, Cambodia Vietnam Border."
|
Jack Downey Comments on Canadian Issues to Inform and Amuse.
|
Faith and Beggorah!
Quebec is Irish!
Holy moley! The Quebecois are forty percent Irish! Lets take a run up to Quebec in the Batmobile on our holidays and check out the pretty colleens!
From the "The Irish in Quebec" by Marianna O'Gallagher (see here for details about these Francophones who may really be Irishphones
(with a cellphone background?)):
"...The Quebec City area is the main focuses of this article, hence my cursory treatment of the rest of the province. We finally discover in the Quebec area an Irishman whose history is well documented in the person of Thomas Moore, Irish-Catholic though Dover born, the son of Edmund Moore and Cecile Richardson. He established his home on the island of Orleans near Quebec City and operated as pilot, sea captain and privateer for the French between 1686 and 1710, when his name fades from the records. His sons and grandsons, however, left the name in the marriage records of the region. It was not to be the last Irish name, for very soon, there would appear several men, bearing the name of McCarty, acting in various administrative as well as naval and military capacities. These men and others were descendants of the "Wild Geese", and served everywhere in the French Empire in North America. Other names appear which are or appear to be Irish: of 'McNamera' and 'McCarthy' there can be no doubt; other names such as 'French' or 'Rielle' or Lemaire' with the attached 'L'irelande' or 'L'irlandais' leave little doubt as to origin. 'Maddox' and 'Moran' round out an interesting list. One wonders if any of these men or their descendants met and married any of the many Irish and Scots girls brought to Quebec as captives. These girls were bound for domestic service in Virginia, when their ship, an English one, was captured by the French warships, Le Brillant and L'Heureux, and taken to Quebec, where they were placed in private families and "entered voluntarily into the work of their new employers", says Guerin..."
Another excellent paper, "Beaurivage: The Development of an Irish Ethnic Identity in Rural Quebec: 1820-1860", by D. Aidan McQuillan (available at here.) provides some insight into early Canadian Culture.
According to "The scattering of seeds" Website:,
The Irish Catholics were English-speaking which complicated their relations with the French, but it was Québec that welcomed them most vigorously, partly because of religion and, perhaps, because of their shared resistance to the English. In the wake of their calamitous arrival at Grosse Isle, hundreds of Irish children were orphaned and alone. Québec families and parishes rallied around these children, adopting them and allowing them to keep their Irish names. In Québec today, you can find fourth and fifth generation Donovans, O'Neills and O'Brians who do not speak English.
All the above history sites give enough details to encourage all Canadians to treasure Quebec as a unique French/Irish enclave in North America. Ahh, but there is a Geezer clangor on La belle province!
The recent change in the government of Quebec shows that there is a major change in political direction. "Why?", you may ask.
The Separatists suddenly realized that they could not make it alone, nor can any other province, and they would have to be united with someone in some way. The USA citizens can barely speak English, never mind French, so they're out. The only other choice was to unite with the Irish enclave of Newfoundland & Labrador. Now, to get both provinces to have a common language you have two choices:
- Every one speaks French with a Newfie accent OR
- Everyone speaks Newfie with a French accent.
The election results show that the status quo is the best game in town and here's the music of what might well be the official Quebecois dance in celebration of the new government (said to have been composed by the Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney.)
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/stpats/mcnamara.htm.
Finally, I found out that Quebec invented hockey, our national sport, and that the French/Irish girls were smart enough to play it in the summer with no need of a Zamboni.
There is a lot to be said for beauty and brains!
1904 Montreal Champion Team who challenged and beat Toronto 4 games to 1 but are not listed in the Hockey Hall of Fame. No wonder they wanted to separate. Only in Canada eh?
© Jack C. Downey CD
Send comments to: Jack
Thanks for your help
best regards
www.CanadianCulture.com
Get Involved!
Your Ideas are Important!
Content is contributed by various Canadians and does not necessarily
reflect the views of canadianculture.com.
|
 
|
