O'Conner, Louis

  • 26.168889
    Introduction
  • 160.473107
    Louis talks about his Irish ancestry. His great grandfather came from County Kerry. He had a family of eleven. His mother was from next district, and her father died when she was young. His grandmother came from County Monaghan.
  • 270.222222
    Talks about the difficult times in Ireland. Comments that only the able bodied were able to leave, because it was a rough passage to cross. Discusses the difficulties in Canada: poor and all the land belonged to the landlord. They had to do quick rent, until the Government bought out the landowners. Many borrowed money from the French to pay for the land and the Irish were left to take the poorer land.
  • 425.401179
    Talks about his father owning horses; horses played a big part in their life (their cash crop). A lot of farmers raised horses. A man who came to the island to start the horse selling business. Talks about what horses were in demand. In that day a horse was sold on appearance, build and age (no set price). A profit of $200 would finance them for a whole year.
  • 457.444717
    A Lot of drinking coming over from Ireland. Liquor was a curse. It would cause them to fight.
  • 469.112744
    Rivalry Between Irish and Scottish. At horse races and tea parties there would always be a fight.
  • 646.606077
    Describes a 'typical Tea Party'. Catholic Parishes would have a tea party every year, it started in the morning then would serve supper. They also had beer. There was a booth for dances where a fight could start. Also had picnics. Tea parties would have a special train run from St. Peter's Bay to Kensington. Besides making money from tea parties they would also auction food-filled baskets that the local woman would put together. They also had pie auctions.
  • 1055.718458
    Speaks again about drinking. Liquor was sold in every village. When prohibition came in you had to have a prescription from a doctor. Bootleggers would counteract this. Mention of bootleggers, moonshiners and rumrunners. Prohibition did not really slow anything down. Compares liquor then to liquor now. Despite being poor the Irish were always drinking. Smoking tobacco was a curse, in those days if you smoked you couldn't get a job. He smoked cigars and a pipe.
  • 1160.115374
    Discusses the Irish Catholic religion. Does not recall fighting between Catholics and Protestants. Protestants did not swear, drink, dance or play cards.
  • 1354.048435
    Recalls that the Irish keenly observed the Holy Days and paid more attention to them. November 1st was All Souls Day and the 8th of December was the Feast of Immaculate Conception. January the 6th was Old Christmas. On all Holy Days they went to Mass. Talks about the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. Speaks about war.
  • 1672.243084
    Reads a written history piece about the first settlers who came to PEI. It talks about their journey where they settled and where they would move as seasons would change. Talks about land ownership and the irish having to rent land. Kinkora and Kelly's Cross always remained Irish. Mentions how they cleared the land and raised big families to tend to the farm. Reads a story about two sisters. Speaks about Irish discrimination - not being able to vote, having to settle on poorer land. Reads another story about mother and son. Speaks about starvation as a result of the potato crop failure.
  • 1675.064308
    Tape ends

Description

David MacKenzie interviews Louis O’Connor, formerly of Clinton, PEI, at the Sacred Heart Home in Charlottetown. Mr. O’Connor discusses industries and trades on the Island during the early days, including shipbuilding, agriculture, carpentry and blacksmithing. He mentions that many Irish were superstitious and poor, but had unique personalities with a strong faith. He then goes on to talk about manual labor, fighting amongst the Irish, and other social changes during the early days.