Title based on contents of fonds.
The documents were donated in three accessions (2006 and 2021) by the St. Patrick's Society of Richmond and Vicinity.
Most of the documents are in English, some in French.
The St. Patrick's Society of Richmond and Vicinity was founded in 1877, probably in April of that year. Its mission is to promote and celebrate the Irish culture in the Richmond area. The Society celebrates St. Patrick's Day each year organizing a parade, a St. Patrick's Queen Pageant, a banquet and a dance. The annual banquet and dance includes a guest speaker and local music. Besides their own parade, the Richmond and Vicinity Society has also participated in annual Montreal St. Patrick's Day parade.The Society also holds other activities for its members throughout the year such as sugaring-off parties and corn-roasts. Members reaching 75 years-old recieve a life membership scroll from the Society. In 1977 the society under president Dennis W. Keenan celebrated its centennial. In 2002, it erected a Celtic cross with names of Irish that settled in the region, in downtown Richmond . It is the oldest society in the Province of Quebec off the Island of Montreal.
St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. His mission, entrusted by Pope St. Celestine I, was to convert the pagans Irish into Christianity. He fullfilled his mission and founded churches in all the provinces of Ireland. He died on March 17, around 460 A.D, at Saul, County of Down, Ireland.
St. Patrick's Day was celebrated for the first time on the American continent in 1737, in Boston, Massachusetts. Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide by Irish communities.
Published
The fonds contains source material on the St. Patrick's Society of Richmond and Vicinity from 1887 to 2021. It consists of the minutes, correspondence, history, annual financial reports, bank books, St. Patrick's Day banquet material, membership lists, newsletters, newsclippings, centennial book and celtic cross project documents. The fonds is comprised of the following series: Administration (1886-2003, 2020), Activities and Special Events (1996-2002, 2021), Membership ([18-?]-[19-?]), and Publications (1977).
Further accruals are expected.
The records of the Society's first years of existence (1877-1885) and the minute book for the year 1909 to 1926 have been lost by the Society or destroyed.