The Celtic Cross that is the logo of Irish Heritage Quebec is an image of the Celtic Cross that stands in Artillery Park on McMahon Street in Quebec City. The Cross is a gift to the people of Quebec in memory of their generosity and compassion during the period of the Great Migration of the 19th century. The Cross was donated to Irish Heritage Quebec by Irish philanthropist James Callery, founder of the Strokestown Park and National Famine Museum in County Roscommon, Ireland. A recognized sign of Irish identity, the Celtic Cross stands near what was the site of the first Irish parish in Canada. The monument is part of a larger plan to recognize and develop Irish heritage in Quebec. The project was initiated by Irish Heritage Quebec, the Commission de la Capitale nationale du Quebec, the City of Quebec and Parks Canada.
Irish Heritage Quebec was founded in 1973 by Marianna O’Gallagher and several members of the Irish community of Quebec City. The organization was incorporated on August 13, 1990 under the provisions of the Canada Corporations Act. It was continued under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act on August 15, 2012. It was registered as a charity in November 1998.
O’Gallagher was the founder of Irish Heritage Quebec and was the heart and soul of the organization since its inception in 1973 and remained so until her passing. She came from a family that arrived in Canada in 1851, in the wake of the artificial famine. They consistently treasured their Irish ethnicity. Her grandfather Jerimiah, her father Dermot and Marianna herself were all committed to the commemoration of the Irish emigration/immigration experience. The three of them in succession were central in commemorating the tragedy of Grosse Isle. They insisted that the degradation to which their people had been reduced was not of the Irish people’s doing. The lives of Jerimiah, Dermot and Marianna, their extended families and their success in their chosen fields are all witness to that.
Today, the objects of the corporation are to encourage and aid genealogical studies of Quebec Irish families, to preserve information, artifacts and documents belonging to the Irish Community of Quebec, to promote the research into the history of the Irish of Quebec, to encourage the study of Irish arts and authors, and to promote the activities of groups pursuing such objectives, and to promote the publication and sale of books and articles pertaining to Irish history, arts and culture.
In 2006 the Society facilitated the return of the bells of the old St. Patrick’s Church on McMahon Street to the belfry of the Hôtel-Dieu Research Centre, among other major projects.
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