List of Freedom of the City recipients

The Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by a city council upon a person (or persons) to whom the city wishes to pay tribute. In medieval times, the title of "freeman" would entitle the bearer to special privileges, such as the right to vote or own property, but few of these privileges are still relevant today; in contemporary society, the granting of the Freedom of the City is seen more as a symbolic gesture. In some countries, esteemed individuals are instead awarded the Key to the City, which usually takes the form of an ornamental key. Other places have their own, unique local variants, such as the white Smithbilt hats awarded by the Canadian city of Calgary.

Some recipients of the Freedom of the City (or the Key to the City) are local residents who are held in high regard by the community; others are visiting celebrities or dignitaries. This list only includes notable recipients.

Freedom of the City recipients:

Key to the City recipients:

Keys to the City are awarded in Brampton, Burnaby, Mississauga, Toronto, Winnipeg, Windsor, and Vancouver. Winnipeg also offers honorary citizenship, while Calgary's ceremony is the White Hat Ceremony.

1710 – 1841

1887 – present

Notable recipients of the Freedom of Galway include:

Several recipients of the Freedom of Limerick in the years 1900 to 1902 were Boers – Britain's enemy during the Second Boer War. Limerick's city council, at the time composed mostly of Irish nationalists, sympathised with the Boers, and in an expression of solidarity, granted the Freedom to three Boer generals (Louis Botha, Christiaan de Wet, and Koos de la Rey), the presidents of two Boer-ruled countries (Paul Kruger and Martinus Theunis Steyn), and Captain William O'Donnell, an Irish-born soldier fighting on the side of the Boers. None of these six men visited Limerick to have the Freedom officially conferred upon them, and their names are therefore absent from the roll of freemen.

Other notable recipients of the Freedom of Limerick include:

↑ – "Approved by unanimous votes"

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