KDHS Lecture – Famine Migration to Quebec: 1845-1860 Presented by Mary-Alice Wildasin

Why did so many Irish migrate to Canada in the nineteenth century? For the most part, history tells us that they abandoned their homeland because of famine, political strife, epidemics, religious suppression and evictions. Irish Catholics had a considerable impact on the city of Quebec. Following the migration journey of the Doran family, from Summerslane, Kilkenny, this presentation is a discussion of what life might have been like in Quebec in the 1850’s for Irish Catholic migrants. The Migration to Quebec is investigated with a study of types of jobs they had, where they lived and diseases within the community. Orphaned Irish children and the first ethnic church built for the Irish Catholic migrants are also considered. Three of the Doran siblings lived out their lives in Canada, while two continued their migration to Bangor, Maine. For this presentation, migrants from Clare are also discussed.

Mary-Alice Wildasin moved to Ireland from Florida, to further her education at the University of Limerick.

In 2020 she graduated with an MA in History of the Family, writing her dissertation on her own family’s migration: The Dorans – from Summerslane, Kilkenny to Bangor, Maine 1820 – 1900: A Case Study in Step Migration.

She came to UL with a unique background, having previously worked as a Political Consultant and a Real Estate Paralegal. Since 2010, she has been a professional genealogist specializing in Irish and New England research after graduating from Boston University with a Graduate Certificate in Genealogical Research and Forensic Genealogy.

Mary-Alice continues to research her family lines and is also working on her partner’s family tree, which can be traced to the same land where they live, back to the early 1800s. A very different path than her own ancestors’.

Mary-Alice currently lives in Molougha with her partner.

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