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Death or Canada
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Death or Canada
Death or Canada is a two-part Canadian–Irish docudrama which was broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One in November/December 2008. In the UK on The History Channel UK in January and February 2009 as Fleeing The Famine. The film was also featured as part of the celebrations for Toronto's 175th anniversary.
Narrated by Brian Dennehy, the film follows the Protestant Willis family from the west of Ireland as they flee to Canada in the Spring of 1847 at the height of the Great Famine, ultimately arriving in Toronto, The story is intercut with commentary from historians and other experts.
It was directed by Ruán Magan.
The title of the film comes from the research of one of the main contributors, Mark McGowan, Principal of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. He says that "The title, Death or Canada, was something that I discovered in archives in Limerick, Ireland, in a newspaper where the locals were writing about the choices that had to be made in 1847. They said: 'During the Cromwellian period, it was to hell or Connaught, and now that's being writ large in our own time as death or Canada.' "
Set in early 1847, it follows the doomed Willis family, who were forced to leave their home in southwest Ireland to set out on a journey to Canada. The Willis' are Protestant and demonstrate that it wasn't only Catholics who were victims of the Great Famine. Professor Peter Gray of Queen's University Belfast opines: "People think that Irish Catholics have the monopoly on famine suffering, when in fact it crossed the religious divide. 30% of those who went to Canada were Protestant."
The episode investigates the impact of the Famine on North America. In summer 1847, Toronto, then a small city in the British colony of Canada, was swamped by an influx of 40,000 famine refugees from Ireland. Toronto's Bishop Michael Power, who following a visit to Ireland in 1847, endeavoured to warn the City Council of the human tsunami of Irish that were about to arrive on its shores. The programme follows the archaeological excavations recently undertaken by Toronto-based Archaeological Services Inc., on the site of the future headquarters of the Toronto International Film Festival, to find the remains of the so-called "fever sheds" in which emaciated immigrants were treated or died. The programme ends with the Willis family arriving at the Grosse Île quarantine station outside of Quebec City at the narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River. The Willis' story is inter-cut with Robert Kearns, chairman of Toronto's Ireland Park, touring the island, which is now an Irish Memorial and National Historic Site.
The second episode was broadcast on RTÉ One on 2 December 2008 at 22:15. It follows the epic journey and tragic story of the Willis family who travel from the West of Ireland in the hopes of starting over in Canada. The program features interviews with William Clay Ford, Jr., whose ancestors came through Toronto in 1847 en route to Dearborn, Michigan, Professor Mark McGowan of the University of Toronto, Dr Peter Grey of Queen's University, Belfast, Microbiologist Dr. Donald Low of Toronto's Mt. Sinai Hospital and with Robert Kearns. Reflections on the famine are provided by John Waters.
The Willis family continue their journey to Toronto, while the eastern ports and cities of British North America were overwhelmed by typhus-infested refugees who caused health crises wherever they went. The programme also looks at the heroes of the young city of Toronto as they absorb the famine refugees. Portrayed in the film are Dr. George Grassett, who was the Chief Medical Officer at Toronto's Fever Sheds, Toronto's Emigrant Agent, Edward McElderry, Nurse Susan Bailey, who also worked in the Fever Sheds and Bishop Michael Power who is the chief hero of Toronto's summer of sorrow in 1847 – responsible for building the fever sheds and hospital that saved thousands of the refugees – and finally dying himself from Typhus – contracted from his time in the fever sheds.
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Death or Canada
Death or Canada is a two-part Canadian–Irish docudrama which was broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One in November/December 2008. In the UK on The History Channel UK in January and February 2009 as Fleeing The Famine. The film was also featured as part of the celebrations for Toronto's 175th anniversary.
Narrated by Brian Dennehy, the film follows the Protestant Willis family from the west of Ireland as they flee to Canada in the Spring of 1847 at the height of the Great Famine, ultimately arriving in Toronto, The story is intercut with commentary from historians and other experts.
It was directed by Ruán Magan.
The title of the film comes from the research of one of the main contributors, Mark McGowan, Principal of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. He says that "The title, Death or Canada, was something that I discovered in archives in Limerick, Ireland, in a newspaper where the locals were writing about the choices that had to be made in 1847. They said: 'During the Cromwellian period, it was to hell or Connaught, and now that's being writ large in our own time as death or Canada.' "
Set in early 1847, it follows the doomed Willis family, who were forced to leave their home in southwest Ireland to set out on a journey to Canada. The Willis' are Protestant and demonstrate that it wasn't only Catholics who were victims of the Great Famine. Professor Peter Gray of Queen's University Belfast opines: "People think that Irish Catholics have the monopoly on famine suffering, when in fact it crossed the religious divide. 30% of those who went to Canada were Protestant."
The episode investigates the impact of the Famine on North America. In summer 1847, Toronto, then a small city in the British colony of Canada, was swamped by an influx of 40,000 famine refugees from Ireland. Toronto's Bishop Michael Power, who following a visit to Ireland in 1847, endeavoured to warn the City Council of the human tsunami of Irish that were about to arrive on its shores. The programme follows the archaeological excavations recently undertaken by Toronto-based Archaeological Services Inc., on the site of the future headquarters of the Toronto International Film Festival, to find the remains of the so-called "fever sheds" in which emaciated immigrants were treated or died. The programme ends with the Willis family arriving at the Grosse Île quarantine station outside of Quebec City at the narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River. The Willis' story is inter-cut with Robert Kearns, chairman of Toronto's Ireland Park, touring the island, which is now an Irish Memorial and National Historic Site.
The second episode was broadcast on RTÉ One on 2 December 2008 at 22:15. It follows the epic journey and tragic story of the Willis family who travel from the West of Ireland in the hopes of starting over in Canada. The program features interviews with William Clay Ford, Jr., whose ancestors came through Toronto in 1847 en route to Dearborn, Michigan, Professor Mark McGowan of the University of Toronto, Dr Peter Grey of Queen's University, Belfast, Microbiologist Dr. Donald Low of Toronto's Mt. Sinai Hospital and with Robert Kearns. Reflections on the famine are provided by John Waters.
The Willis family continue their journey to Toronto, while the eastern ports and cities of British North America were overwhelmed by typhus-infested refugees who caused health crises wherever they went. The programme also looks at the heroes of the young city of Toronto as they absorb the famine refugees. Portrayed in the film are Dr. George Grassett, who was the Chief Medical Officer at Toronto's Fever Sheds, Toronto's Emigrant Agent, Edward McElderry, Nurse Susan Bailey, who also worked in the Fever Sheds and Bishop Michael Power who is the chief hero of Toronto's summer of sorrow in 1847 – responsible for building the fever sheds and hospital that saved thousands of the refugees – and finally dying himself from Typhus – contracted from his time in the fever sheds.