Ireland Park is located on the shores of Lake Ontario on Éireann Quay, adjoining the Canada Malting Silos, at the foot of Bathurst Street, Toronto,
During the famine of 1847, 38,560 Irish men, women and children landed on the shores of Toronto. Some 1,186 died upon their arrival or shortly thereafter; many died in fever sheds during the Typhus epidemic of 1847. Ireland Park is a tribute to all the Irish ancestors who came with only hope, for a new life in a promising country.
Rowan Gillespie designed these five bronze sculptures.
1. A tall man is depicted with his arms raised in exaltation at the prospect of Toronto before him.
2. Tall Man detail.
3. A pregnant woman, whose condition speaks to the prospect of new life and new hope in a new land.
4. Pregnant woman detail.
5. A woman is depicted collapsed to the ground in the last moments of life.
6. Collapsed woman detail.
7. A young boy, whose clumsily gathered hands suggest his apprehension about his future and whether to go back or to go foreword.
8. Young boy detail.
9. A male figure ‘Pius Mulvey’, inspired by Joseph O’Connor’s book ‘Star of the Sea’
10. Pius Mulvey deatil..