05/11/2026
History of the Irish Commemorative Stone (Black Rock) Replica
It’s time for a tune-up on the official Irish Commemorative Stone Replica. Do you know the story?
For more than 20 years the Ancient Order of Hibernians Canada have asked the students of St. Gabriel’s Elementary in the Point to lay the wreath at the Stone on behalf of the AOH to honor the thousands who are buried there and at the Wellington Basin. As a student of the original St. Gabriel’s school behind the church, I always felt an infinity with the school.
The AOH has made presentations to the students including the 2016 talk by Park Foundation historian and raconteur Donovan King. Donovan, founder of Haunted Montreal Tours, not only engaged the students in their Irish heritage but touched on social themes such as bullying. The AOH also organized the field trip to the Grey Nuns Motherhouse.
Eventually, principal, and fellow Irishman, Jim Daskalakis arranged to purchase a school wreath for the students to lay each year.
St. Gabriel’s commissioned an artist to create a replica of the Stone to stand permanently in the school lobby. With a deadline of that year’s Walk to the Stone, the very complex process including photos, measurements, contour outlines, computer enhancements and research to determine the correct font and color used in the description was no simple feat. The Stone was studied in such detail as to even duplicate the edges carved by the great St. Lawrence River over the centuries. The Replica Stone was then carved from a single sheet of Styrofoam to scale.
In strict observance of Murphy’s Law, when it was delivered, it did not fit through the door……
Offers to cut the structure in half and reassemble it once inside the school were dismissed. The school suggested that the artist contact the AOH as custodians of the Stone and cemetery for suggestions. The AOH had founded and incorporated the “Park Foundation” in 2014 to push ahead with its plans to expand the current memorial by purchasing the land surrounding the Stone and Cemetery. The artist agreed that we could use the Stone Replica for public events such as the Annual Montreal St. Patrick’s Day Parade to increase awareness of the site and our plans. We also used it at the Grey Nuns Exhibition, "Saving Montreal’s Famine Irish" and the AOH reception to the REM at the Centaur Theatre.
The Stone replica is safely stored along with the paintings, the remains of an original Lazaretto from Grosse Île that we rescued from the fire in 1972, and the remnants of coffins that we rescued from the trash in 2019.
See you all at the March to the Stone on Sunday, May 31st . See less
