To fully understand Irish settlement, we must first understand the context in which they arrived and were granted land to live on.
The land was controlled by the Sulpicians, a French society of diocesan priests, often remembered as wealthy, educated elites, academics, and missionaries. Contrary to other religious institutions at the time (like the Jesuites), the Sulpicians never took vows of poverty. They were first and foremost powerful and influential landowners. They held the island of Montreal for almost 200 years (1663 to 1854) in addition to the Seigneurie they administered in the Lac-des-Deux-Montagnes and the Seigneurie de Saint-Sulpice.
Between 1821 and 1829, Irish and British immigrants settled in the Seigneurie du Lac-des-Deux-Montagnes as part of the British monarchy’s initiative to populate the area. They established themselves in the northwest of the Seigneurie, in what would later be known as St Colomban. At the time, the Rivière-du-Nord (North River) provided a natural buffer between the Anglophone and Francophone settlements.
The speed at which St Colomban was formed was remarkable—28,000 acres were allocated within ten years, from 1820 to 1829. This expanse is roughly equivalent to 21,200 football fields and slightly larger than the current municipality of Oka.
However, the land granted to these new arrivals was not rightfully available for settlement. Mohawk of Kanehsatà:ke had an existing agreement with the Sulpician Priests, formalized by the Two Dog Wampum Belt, which was presented to British officials after the Conquest in 1763 to ensure the protection of their land from encroachment. The British betrayed this agreement and recognized the Sulpician priests as the sole owners of the land. Since Mohawk of Kanehsatà:ke’s rights and title to the land were not formally recognized, they depended on the Sulpicians to hold the land for them in trust. However, the Sulpicians violated the Two Dog Wampum agreement and sold 98% of the land to settlers, including the newly arrived Irish immigrants.
PhD candidate Léa Denieul Pinsky from Concordia University has created an interactive online map* which explores the history of settlement colonialism in the Seigneurie des Deux-Montagnes. This area includes the present-day municipalities of Oka, Pointe-Calumet, Saint-Placide, Saint-Joseph-du-Lac, Mirabel, Saint-Eustache, Saint-Benoit, Saint-Jérôme, and Saint-Colomban. Olivier Hubert (history professor at the University of Montreal), defines “settler colonialism” as “the permanence of settlement on the territory and the replacement of Indigenous populations by settler populations.” The map vividly illustrates what settler colonialism looks like through the systematic parceling and allocation of lands to settlers to the detriment of Indigenous people who had been living and using the land in diverse ways. The project recently received the David Woodward Award for Best Digital Map and was made possible through the financial support of the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Société et Culture (FRQSC).
* Note: The map does not work on a mobile device at this time. It’s best viewed on a desktop or larger screen device.