Monuments and Sites

On August 5, 1975, a monument was unveiled in Millennium Park, Peterborough, honouring the nearly 2000 Irish settlers who sailed from Cobh Harbour under the leadership of the Honourable Peter Robinson. These settlers arrived in the autumn of 1825, establishing themselves in the Town of Peterborough and the surrounding townships. The monument was unveiled by James O. Flavin, then First Secretary of the Irish Embassy, who acted on behalf of the Ambassador to Canada and later served as Consul General in New York and San Francisco, alongside Fred Grady. Also present were Eoin Kennedy from the Irish Tourist Board and Mayor Joseph Behan. Monsignor Clayton O’Donaghue blessed the area and offered words of remembrance for the Irish settlers.

The Peterborough Canadian Irish Club erected a monument in memory of the victims of the Great Famine, which occurred from 1847 to 1850. This was a devastating period in history that we must never allow to be repeated. Many of those who journeyed to Canada perished at sea, with others dying as far as Grosse Île, Kingston, Peterborough, and Toronto. The monument is located in Del Crary Park along the pathway leading to the Marina, precisely where the fever sheds once stood and where the entertainment stage is now located.

The plaque reads:
1847 – 1997 – This monument commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Great Famine in Ireland. In 1847, many Irish emigrants fleeing the famine died in fever sheds near this site, then known as “Hospital Point.” Like the Irish emigrants who preceded and followed, the survivors contributed to the development and heritage of this region. Their legacy is a city and an area strong in community and family values.

In 2000, thanks to a fundraising effort led by Brenda McGuinness-Leddy and Fred O’Grady, interpretive panels were added beside the Settler’s Monument on the Millennium Walkway. The panel facing the street reads:

Peter Robinson: Peterborough is named after Peter Robinson, a member of a well-known United Empire Loyalist family. Robinson was appointed by the British government to recruit and relocate Irish emigrants to this area. He left Ireland with 2,000 Irish Roman Catholic settlers in the late spring of 1825 and arrived here by mid-fall. This five-fold increase in population transformed the tiny hamlet of Scott Mills into the frontier town of Peterborough almost overnight.