Canadian filmmaker on history of Irish famine migrants
January 27th, 2007 by Zsofia
A new Canadian production is underway on the plight of Irish refugees escaping the 1847 famine, many of whom died shortly after arriving in Canada on crowded and unsanitary ships.
The arrival of more than 38,000 famine migrants was a major historical event for Toronto which only had about 20,000 residents at the time. A recent archeological dig has shed more light on the fate of the migrants, uncovering remains of the hospital where over 1000 of them died.
“When they left Ireland, their journey had only just begun and some of the worst terror was yet to come,” historian Mark McGowan told Reuters. McGowan is historical consultant to the Ireland Park Foundation, which is building a memorial to the famine victims on the waterfront where they arrived.
It was the idea of this memorial that inspired local filmmaker Craig Thompson to begin work on the history of the famine victims. “I’ve been fascinated with Irish history for years, so to be able to document a compelling story like this is a remarkable opportunity,” Thompson said.
Thompson’s Ballinran Productions filmed the excavations, which will be the basis for a two part drama documentary, “Summer of Sorrows”, to be screened early next year on Canada’s History Television and Irish state broadcaster RTE.
The producers aim to put names and faces to the migrants, using artifacts found at the Toronto excavation, and archive material from hospitals, parish churches, ships and contemporary officials’ personal records that have since come to light.
(Main source for this article: Reuters)
