National Historic Site of Canada

Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site of Canada

Grosse-Île, Quebec

Also known as Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial, Grosse-Île-et-le-Mémorial-des-Irlandais, Grosse Île and Immigration to Canada

Corner view of 19th century hotel.

Corner view of 19th century hotel.

Photo: Parks Canada Agency / Agence Parcs Canada

Built
1832–1937
Recognized
1974
By
Government of Canada

The register’s text, word for word

Description

Grosse Île National Historic Site is located on an island of the same name in the St. Lawrence River. It is the site of a 19th and early 20th century quarantine station. Today it contains built, archaeological and cultural landscape resources that survive from this 1832-1937 period of use as well as a Celtic Cross erected in 1909 to commemorate the Irish immigrants who died there.

Heritage value

Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site commemorates

  • the importance of immigration to Canada, especially immigration through the entry port of Québec, from the early 19th century until World War I;
  • the tragic experiences of Irish immigrants at this site, especially during the 1847 typhus epidemic; and
  • the role played by the island, from 1832-1937, as a quarantine station for the port of Québec, for many years the main point of entry for immigrants to Canada.

The heritage value of the site resides in the cultural landscape and its component parts that illustrate the process of immigration and quarantine of 19th century immigrants to Canada through the port of Quebec, particularly the Irish during the mid-19th century.

Among its residents was Dr. Frederick Montizambert, medical superintendent of the island during the last 30 years of the 19th century. His belief in the new science of preventative medicine (microbiology, epidemiology, disinfection, vaccinations) caused him to develop a new generation of Canadian quarantine stations which protected Canadians from the deadly epidemics that ravaged many parts of the world at the time

Source

HSMBC Minutes, 1974, 1983, 1993, 1998, and the 1996 Ministerial announcement on Commemorative Intent

Character‑defining elements

Key elements that contribute to the heritage value of this site include :

  • the cultural landscape located on the island's south shore, comprised of three distinct activity sectors
  • the linkage of the sectors by a road, the length of the island
  • the collection of modest, vernacular, wooden buildings and two in brick
  • the memorial sites, including graveyards and the Celtic Cross monument
  • the setting, isolated by the forested, northern portion of the island and by the waters of the St. Lawrence River

Western Sector

  • buildings from the 19th and 20th centuries, including the disinfection building, carpentry and plumbing workshops, hotels, wash house, bakery, kitchen, the electrician's house, the vaccination and medical examination office, the guard house, and assistant physician's house in their found form, massing, materials, and spacial relationships
  • the Irish cemetery with its grassed, unmarked graves and the doctors' monument
  • the Celtic Cross memorial in its form, materials and setting
  • the west wharf with vestiges of the 1846-1847 original and various engineering structures
  • archaeological vestiges

Central sector

  • built node including the sailors' quarters, Anglican and Roman Catholic chapels, Catholic Presbytery, the Marconi station, the house of the Public works official, the doctor's house, the workshop, the school, the nurses' residence, and the Superintendent's Shed in their found form, massing, materials, and spacial relationships
  • the cannon battery
  • cemetery
  • vestiges of the lower wharf and engineering works
  • archaeological remnants.

Eastern sector

  • lazaretto
  • cemetery, sub-divided into Catholic and Protestant sectors
  • 1881 hospital laundry; - infections desease hospital foundations; - numerous archaeological remnants»

End of the register’s text

Location

Grosse-Île, Quebec, Canada

47.02944° N, 70.66893° W

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Nearby

All 11 places in Grosse-Île

Similar places

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From the Canadian Register of Historic Places, as last updated on December 12, 2025. The register’s text is shown word for word.