This is a park created out of the kindness and generosity of many people and organizations. Foremost amongst these is the Ireland Fund of Canada, our Founding Partner, represented here to-day by the Chair Sue Storey.

I would also like to take a moment to recognize and thank those who designed and built the Park. This is a labour of love of many hands, far too many to recognize individually. I thank them one and all for their creativity, passion and pride in their workmanship.

Please refer to your brochures and the screens behind me for their names and companies.

I’m equally indebted to the board of directors of Ireland Park Foundation who have worked so hard so many years to see the Park become a reality. But above all, thanks to you, the Irish Community of Toronto, who have come forward with such unprecedented generosity. This is your Park, and today is your day.

The response of the city of Toronto to the arrival of 38,000 Irish Famine immigrants in the summer of 1847 is the greatest story NEVER told in the history of our city. Ireland Park now tells that story. It commemorates the loss of 1,125 lives and celebrates those who survived, thanks to the kindness and courage of the citizens of Toronto.

Some settled in Toronto and laid the foundations of the beautiful city that we see before us today. But the majority moved on to the countryside of Ontario where they farmed and furrowed the land. These were hard working and determined people seeking a better life for themselves and their children. They stamped into the mould of this nation the very hallmark of Canadian identity. Tolerance, kindness, generosity and determination. That is their great legacy.

You are the descendents of these Irish immigrants. You are the grandchildren of their grandchildren. Just as you are here today…, so too are they in spirit…And if you listen carefully to the gentle breeze that blows across the waters of this Great Lake behind us, you can hear their voices and I believe this is what they are saying….

“We are the Famine dead of old Toronto. We were six weeks by sail out from Ireland, when we entered the mighty St. Lawrence and made landfall at the Island of Grosse Isle, where many of us still lie. From thence to Kingston and by steamer to the docks of Toronto and the Emigrant Hospital where the Ship Fevers carried us away.

Remember well the kindly people of Toronto who took us in at great peril to themselves. We came amongst them in such great numbers but with a sickness that knew no cure. So many of you gave up your lives so that our descendents might have life and be present today.

You have marked well our place here, with bronze figures and dark stones, lifted from the old limestone beds in the hills of Kilkenny. Though lost these many long years, now we are found and our names are recalled on these stones. And with this glass beacon we will guide to the safety of these shores, those that follow in our footsteps, from the Four Corners of the world.

Let this place call out across the fields of Ontario and Canada. Summon up the stories of our children’s struggles. Speak of their triumph over adversity and the attainment of peace. Go tell old Ireland and all the worlds Irishry how they fared and of the Canada that they helped make.

And so on this day of all days, when the warm summer solstice sun, lingers longest in the wide skies of Canada, remember us. Remember us, and in so doing extend that same gentle hand of human kindness to one another, as that which reached out to us from the docks of Toronto all those years ago. Remember us always in this way.

And so now, we bid you farewell and Godspeed, and know you all, that we sleep in peace. We hear your song of joy and celebration this day, here and in Ireland, our Island home. Land of our fathers, forsaken to hunger and forsaken to fear. How well she stands today amongst the nations of the World? Sovereign, prosperous, and at peace.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the story of Ireland Park. Today is a day of commemoration and celebration for both Ireland and Canada. Today is your day. Thank you for being here.

Robert G. Kearns
Chairman, Ireland Park Foundation