by GuilLaume Laflamme
Fort Coulonge
Mar. 17, 2024
Pontiac residents gathered for a feast of home-cooked Irish stew at Le Patro de Fort-Coulonge/Mansfield to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on Sunday.
The evening was packed with activities including some social games and tunes from musician René Bertrand.
The event was organized by Les jeunes de coeur, a committee formed at Le Patro in 2022 dedicated to creating opportunities for socializing for people over the age of 50.
With dozens of people attending the event, Suzanne Dazé, one of the five volunteers with the committee, believes she achieved her goal of bringing people together for a positive experience.
“We’re happy to see that we’ve succeeded in getting people out. It helps them . . .
socialize, amuses them, and gives them good memories,” Dazé told THE EQUITY in a French interview.
For Phillip Davis, an Irishman from a family with more than five generations of history in the Pontiac region, the holiday is not just about celebrating Irish culture, but also about remembering and honouring his ancestors.
“They want to celebrate St. Patrick’s because everybody else is celebrating, but they don’t really know why we celebrate,” Davis said. “If you want to get down to the nitty gritty, you’ll find out it’s our culture, it’s our background, it’s our ancestors that suffered and died.”
Davis noted the long history the Irish have in Canada, including the mass-deaths that happened in Grosse-Île, the quarantine station for immigrants arriving through the port of Quebec from 1832 to 1937.
“That’s where they quarantined the Irish people, when they came over on boats,” explained Davis. “They weren’t allowed into Canada. They had to stay there for 40 days so they wouldn’t spread diseases, and thousands and thousands are buried there.”
Mona Durocher Davis, one of the other volunteers at the event, sees St. Patrick’s Day as a time for people to rejoice and laugh, and celebrate the Irish people that, in her opinion are so good at doing just that.
“They’re people who love to laugh, who love to have fun. And I think that tonight, that’s what we hope to do with them. Even if we’re not Irish, we’ll try to enjoy it,” Durocher said in French.
