On St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1996, Ms. S. Copps, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced her plans for the national historical site at Grosse Ile, a small island in the St. Lawrence river, 48 kilometers downstream from Quebec City. Gross Ile is the burial site of thousands of Irish immigrants who died of cholera in 1832, and of typhus, ship fever and starvation while fleeing from the Great Hunger in 1847. "From now on," said the Minister, "it will be called Grosse Ile and the Irish Memorial." The only remaining hospital building from 1847, is a long wooden shed called the Lazaretto. White crosses mark the graves of some of the thousands of Irish famine victims buried on the island. A tall Celtric Cross was erected in 1909. Ms. Copps further iterated that the department of Canadian Heritage would clear away the brush that had overgown the mass graves to create a place of tranquility and reflection. Equally important, she said, was that it was to pay homage to the welcome, generosity and devotion of the local population who comforted the afflicted. In 1832, Grosse Ile witnessed a full-scale calamity when thousands of Irish died of cholera. In 1847, worse was to happen as 110,000 Irish Famine refugees sailed up the St. Lawrence. The mortality rate on the coffin ships - merchant vessels used in the timber trade, carrying Irish passengres as paying ballast - was one in four. Many of the dead were buried at sea, but thousands died on the ships, while they were anchored in quarantine in the St. Lawrence at Grosse Ile, or in the vastly overcrowded hospital sheds and tents on the island. Despite heroic efforts by the medial authorities at Grosse Ile, particularly Dr. George Douglas, the Medical Superintendent, the suffering was dreadful. At least 5,000 and perhaps as many as 15,000 Famine victms are buried in the mass graves on Grosse Isle. The story of Grosse Ile is not only one of suffering. Just as impressive and memorable is the remarkable generosity of spirit of the Canadians. In addition to Dr. Douglas - who contracted typhus from the Irish Famine victims and was seriously ill for several weeks - the story of 1847 abounds with Canadian heroism. Four other doctors, five Catholic priests, three Anglican clergymen, and 42 lay workers died tending the sick at Grosse Ile. The Anglican and Catholic bishops and their clergy volunteered to assist on the island. In Montreal, all the nuns of the Grey Sisters who tended the Irish came down with fever, and the Mayor, John Mills, died of typhus. The same fate befell Michael Power, the first Catholic Archbishop of Toronto. The most astonishing part of the story, however, continues to echo in Quebec where Grosse Ile is still known as "I'ile des Irlandais - the Irish island." The Catholic clergy arranged for the adoption of more than 2,000 children orphaned that summer. In many cases, the children were adopted into French Canadian familes who allowed them to keep their own Irish family names. Which explains, in part, how so many Irish names can still be found in completely French-speaking areas of Quebec. When Mary Robinson, President of Ireland, visited Canada in August, 1994, the first place on her itinerary was Grosse Ile. In a moving speech, under canvas in the pouring rain, she said that while the failure of the potato was a natural disaster across Europe, "in Ireland it took place in a political, economic and social framework that was oppressive and unjust." Mary Robinson spoke for us all when she said of Grosse Ile: "This is a hallowed place." -- Excerpt, "Irish America Magazine"