Death or Canada
| Death or Canada | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Also known as | 'Fleeing The Famine' |
| Created by | Ballinran Productions/Tile Films |
| Written by | Craig Thompson |
| Directed by | Ruán Magan |
| Narrated by |
Brian Dennehy Ruán Magan |
| Music by | Chris Dedrick |
| Country of origin | Canada, Ireland |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 2 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Craig Thompson Stephen Rooke Dave Farrell |
| Cinematography | Colm Whelan |
| Editor(s) | Bruce Annis |
| Release | |
| Original network |
RTÉ One (Ireland) History Television (Canada) The History Channel UK (United Kingdom) |
| Original release | 25 November – 2 December 2008 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Death or Canada is a two-part Canadian–Irish docudrama which was broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One in November/December 2008. In the UK on The History Channel UK in January and February 2009 as Fleeing The Famine. The film was also featured as part of the celebrations for Toronto's 175 anniversary.
Narrated by Brian Dennehy, the film follows the Protestant Willis family from the west of Ireland as they flee to Canada in the Spring of 1847 at the height of The Great Potato Famine, ultimately arriving in Toronto, The story is intercut with commentary from historians and other experts.
It was directed by Ruán Magan.
The title of the film comes from the research of one of the main contributors, Mark McGowan, Principal of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. He says that "The title, Death or Canada, was something that I discovered in archives in Limerick, Ireland, in a newspaper where the locals were writing about the choices that had to be made in 1847. They said: 'During the Cromwellian period, it was to hell or Connaught, and now that's being writ large in our own time as death or Canada.' "
Set in early 1847, it follows the doomed Willis family, who were forced to leave their home in southwest Ireland to set out on a journey to Canada. The Willis' are Protestant and demonstrate that it wasn't only Catholics who were victims of the Great Famine. Professor Peter Gray of Queen's University Belfast opines: "People think that Irish Catholics have the monopoly on famine suffering, when in fact it crossed the religious divide. 30% of those who went to Canada were Protestant."
The episode investigates the impact of the Famine on North America. In summer 1847, Toronto, then a small city in the British colony of Canada, was swamped by an influx of 40,000 famine refugees from Ireland. Toronto's Bishop Michael Power, who following a visit to Ireland in 1847, endeavoured to warn the City Council of the human tsunami of Irish that were about to arrive on its shores. The programme follows the archaeological excavations recently undertaken by Toronto-based Archaeological Services Inc., on the site of the future headquarters of the Toronto International Film Festival, to find the remains of the so-called "fever sheds" in which emaciated immigrants were treated or died. The programme ends with the Willis family arriving at the Grosse Île quarantine station outside of Quebec City at the narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River. The Willis' story is inter-cut with Robert Kearns, chairman of Toronto's Ireland Park, touring the island, which is now an Irish Memorial and National Historic Site.
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Wikipedia