St. Michael's Legacy : In Search of Irish Mile End

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
St. Michael's Legacy : In Search of Irish Mile End
Abstract
The author recounts the history of the now-forgotten Irish community that existed in Montreal's Mile End district between the 1890s and the 1950s. Originally drawn to the area because of its accessibility to downtown Montreal following the construction of an electric streetcar line and the fact that the Shamrock Lacrosse Club, founded in 1868, moved its grounds to the Mile End in 1895, Irish Montrealers began relocating to the area. To accommodate this Irish Catholic population, St. Michael the Archangel parish was created in 1902, and a decade later as the congregation grew larger, the parish moved into a newly constructed church at the corner of St. Viateur and St. Urban streets. This new church, designed by local architect Aristide Beaugrand-Champagne in a Byzantine architectural style popular with the Pope of the day, opened in 1915 serving 1,500 families. By the 1950s, as most of the Mile End Irish families moved on to newer suburban areas of the city, the church became home to the Polish Catholic community that were replacing the Irish in the Mile End. In 1969 the Church was renamed St. Michael's and St. Anthony's Catholic Community.
Publication
Quebec Heritage News
Volume
Vol. 16
Issue
no. 2
Date
Spring 2022
Pages
12-13
Language
en
Citation
Bur, Justin. “St. Michael’s Legacy : In Search of Irish Mile End.” Quebec Heritage News, Spring 2022.
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