Honouring a living heritage through landscape at the city’s gateway.
This place of remembrance, celebration, and gathering transforms the historic Black Rock site steeped in history at the foot of Victoria Bridge into a welcoming city entrance. Discovered in the riverbed during the bridge’s construction in 1859, the Black Rock has stood for over 160 years, marking the resting place of nearly 6,000 Irish immigrants who succumbed to typhus after fleeing their homeland in search of a new life.
The heart of the project features an elegant agora with broad, terraced steps and the Black Rock at its centre. Enhanced by a reflecting pool that mirrors the sky and evokes the original Irish immigrants’ ocean crossing, it creates a space that invites both solemn contemplation and communal gathering.
A corten steel wall runs alongside the agora, extending along the entire length of the site. Etched with 6,000 Celtic crosses in memory of those who perished, it also displays archival images that tell the story of the site and its legacy of mutual aid. This structure, reminiscent of a ship’s hull, culminates in a bow-shaped lookout offering a stunning view of the river and city, directing the gaze toward Europe.
The landscape on either side of this main axis is composed of ‘fragments of Ireland’, vast green space punctuated by natural stones that mark the location of the former barracks where immigrant families first stayed. A museum pavilion completes the ensemble, providing services and shelter to visitors.
Integrated into the international Great Famine Way circuit, this site represents a significant milestone in a memorial network that extends well beyond Canadian borders. The contemporary design enters a dialogue with history, creating a tangible bridge between past and present. This project, informed by the extensive archival work of the Montreal Irish Monument Foundation, celebrates the enduring contribution of the Irish diaspora to their adoptive society while offering a space for chance encounters between all cultures, generations, and eras. Through its refined layout and powerful symbolism, the Montreal Irish Monument Park transforms a historic site into living heritage, a place of welcome and gathering visible from the REM and Victoria Bridge.
