La vague celtique , Cultural Heritage, and the Creative Economy in Rural Southern Québec

As Québec has moved to strengthen its creative economy in recent years, both English-speaking communities and rural areas have become areas of concern. Surprisingly under-examined has been the multiplication of Irish commemorations, memorials, and related heritage attractions in the overwhelmingly French-speaking Appalachian foothills of southern Québec. Irish migration there occurred largely between the 1810s and mid-1840s (before the Great Famine) after the opening of several roads that completed overland connections between Québec City and Boston: the Kennebec Road along the Chaudière River (and the Etchemin Road branching off it) that existed in rudimentary form by 1810; the Craig Road, constructed in 1810; and the Gosford Road, begun in the late 1830s as a winter spur off the Craig. These routes drew Irish migrants into the townships. Their traditions and memories of pioneer life and sectarian tensions have lived on among the area’s dwindling English-speaking communities. Some of their members have rallied to preserve this Irish heritage before it is lost. Bolstered by regional and provincial tourism offices, local businesses, and many francophone descendants of Irish settlers – and also by greater acceptance of pluralism in a more culturally self-confident Québec – they have been building an ecumenical, authentic, and visible Irish presence. So far, they have also avoided the negative aspects of creative-cultural tourism.