
Marianna O’Gallgher
Noted Irish-Canadian historian and retired schoolteacher Marianna O’Gallagher has earned her reputation as the leading authority on the quarantine station at Grosse Ile in Quebec, the main point of entry into North America for British registered vessels during the period of An Gorta Mor (the Great Hunger). Over 100,000 Irish arrived at Grosse Ile between 1845 and 1849. It became the final resting place for at least 5,000 Irish citizens displaced by the Famine. Now a sacred burial site, people from around the world make pilgrimages to this island to remember those whose struggle for life in this new country gave their descendants a future.
O’Gallagher is a fount of information regarding the survivors of Grosse Ile and their descendants and how they were assimilated into French-Canadian society. Since her childhood, she has lived and breathed Irish-Canadian history. Her paternal grandfather, Jeremiah Gallagher, from Macroom, Co. Cork, was president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Quebec City and in 1909 was one of the leading members responsible for raising a Celtic Cross on Gross Ile as a tribute to the many who died there.
O’Gallagher earned her bachelor’s degree from Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and her master’s degree in history from the University of Ottawa. She taught elementary and high school for 35 years as a Sister of Charity. When she retired from teaching she withdrew from the congregation as well.
At St. Patrick’s High School in Quebec, O’Gallagher taught children about the historical background of the Irish in Quebec and emphasized the importance of recognizing one’s cultural identity.
In the 70s, O’Gallagher received an Opportunities for Youth grant from the Canadian Government. She employed high school and junior college students on a project to create an alphabetical index of Irish marriages from parishes around Quebec City, which now forms the basis of Irish genealogy research in Quebec.
Over the years, O’Gallagher has traveled extensively, giving lectures on the history of Grosse Ile and the Irish in Quebec. She has written numerous articles and is the author of Gross Ile: Gateway to Canada; Eyewitness Grosse Ile 1847; Saint Patrick’s Quebec 1824-1834; and Saint Brigid’s Quebec 1856-1971.
In 1973, she co-founded Irish Heritage Quebec, an historical and genealogical society, and in 1981 she founded Carraig Books, a publishing company specializing in the history of the Irish in Quebec, and printing in both French and English.
In conjunction with her lecturing and writing, O’Gallagher has conducted numerous guided tours to Grosse Ile. In 1994, she had the honor of escorting President Mary Robinson on her visit there.
In remembrance of the 150th anniversary of the Famine, O’Gallagher is at the forefront of organizing “The Irish Summer/l’Été Irlandais,” a summer-long cultural and arts festival in Quebec City. She will also serve as convenor of The Canadian Association for Irish Studies’ annual conference, “French Canada and the Irish Connection” at Laval University in June.