On July 6, over 60 members of the Irish Egan Clan gathered outside Quyon to learn about the life of one of their ancestors.
The Irish diaspora was well represented, with visitors hailing from as far as Texas and Australia, as well as the Emerald Isle.
Maureen Egan Kirincic, vice president of the clan and organizer of the trip, explained that the Egans are the second largest active clan in Ireland. She said they organize reunions like this every other year and alternate between Ireland and other location around the globe where Egans have settled.
“It’s to track our roots, track our heritage and promote Irish heritage and family lines,” she explained.
The group started off in Ottawa for Canada Day, and visited several prominent Irish historic sites in Ontario and Quebec, such as Grosse Isle in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

The island was used to quarantine mainly Irish immigrants who had contracted typhus on their voyage to escape the Great Famine in the mid-1800s. Many thousands died there, or en route, and the island is currently a national historic site.
“To me, it was very emotional on Grosse Isle,” Kirincic said.
The Pontiac leg of the journey began with a tour of the Chats Falls area with local historian and author Michael McBane.
The group then gathered at the Domaine de Pontiac Village for a meal and a informative talk about Quyon’s founder, John Egan, on whom McBane has recently published a biography.
McBane highlighted the trials and tribulations of the local lumber men as well as some of Egan’s accomplishments as a politician and philanthropist.
“It would take two years, often, to get the wood from [Pontiac] to [Quebec City], and then out to Europe,” he said. “So there’s a big investment of capital. You didn’t get your money back for a while. A lot of merchants went bankrupt.”
Egan had a mill in the region of the old Pontiac Village, and at the time it was the biggest in the country. He also worked to help recently landed immigrants from his home country by offering them employment in one of his many lumbering operations.
McBane concluded the talk with a assessment of Egan’s character and his contribution to Canada, though he passed away a decade prior to its formation.
McBane gestured to a large photo of the Parliament Buildings on fire in 1849, a pivotal moment in pre-Confederation history where a group of Loyalists torched the place.
“He was present when this fire happened,” McBane explained. “John Egan spent his life fighting that kind of sectarian violence. He didn’t think that there was any room for that in our society, let alone our politics. So John Egan was a peacemaker and he worked hard to stomp out that sectarianism that came from Ireland … He helped lay the groundwork for the Canada we see today.”
Many of the visitors seemed impressed to learn about such a prominent figure in their own family history.
“I think they’re really pumped about the roles the Irish played in Canada and Canadian history, but also our role as Egans,” said Kirincic. “When you hear a story like John’s, he doesn’t get enough recognition for what he did.”
Byron Egan, the president of the U.S. chapter of the clan and hailing from Dallas, Tx., said he was thrilled to explore somewhere new, and has been attending these reunions for close to 30 years.
“This is my first time to Ottawa or this part of Canada,” he said. “We like your country.”
Following the talk, Kirincic said the group would be heading to Eganville, Ont., another place that bears the mark of their ancestor, before returning to Ottawa for a gala dinner at the Irish Cultural Centre.
McBane had copies of his book available for purchase and noted that locals looking to read up on some Pontiac history can attend his official book launch at 6:30 p.m. on July 25 at the Community Lodge in Shawville.