At Home and Abroad

Michael McBane: Macdonald Gardens Ottawa Fifteen to twenty refugees from the Great Irish Famine died every day in Bytown that terrible summer of 1847. Every day their remains were brought to a burial place, which is now known as Macdonald Gardens, a short distance from the Temporary Emigrant Hospital, or the tents on Barracks Hill, or the fever sheds on the Rideau Canal or even the streets of Lower Town. Three hundred in all were buried here where we stand in Macdonald Park. Most lie there still. A team has been set up to generate funds and awareness to have a monument erected to honour those that died and mark the spot.