An American Family History

The peak period of Irish immigration to Canada was during the Great Famine between 1845-1849. Most immigrants went to Canada because the fares were lower. Ships that reached Canada lost many passengers and even more died while in quarantine. From the reception station at Grosse-Ile, most survivors were sent to Montréal. The typhus outbreak of 1847 and 1848 killed many of the new immigrants. An economic boom following their arrival allowed many men to work in on the expanding railroad, in construction, in the logging industry, or on farms.

Askeaton is in southwest Ireland in County Limerick on the river Deel. It is about two miles upstream from the Shannon Estuary.

St. Michael's Roman Catholic Cemetery opened in 1855 and served working class Irish immigrants. It is just southwest of Yonge and St. Clair Streets in the middle of a city block. You enter through a small alleyway between two stores on Yonge Street.