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Beginnings
1799 - Arrival of Acadians The year 1799 has special significance to the Island for two reasons. First of all, it is the year when the name of the Island was changed from Saint John's Island to Prince Edward Island, in honor of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the son of King George III. Also, 1799 is remembered by some Islanders as the year when a handful of Acadian families chose to leave the farms they occupied on land owned by British landlords in Malpeque and seek greater acreage and freedom from rent that they could not afford. Choosing to forge a new life for themselves, it is said that eight Acadian founding families made the journey to Tignish by sea in October, 1799. These courageous people gathered together their families and belongings to travel in open boats, braving the bad weather, to the western end of the Island where they would found Tignish. In the next year, a few other families joined them. By 1801, the Acadian founders had built their first chapel in the pioneer Soon after their arrival, the founding families settled in different areas of Tignish. The Poiriers settled in an area to the right of the Tignish Run known as "la côte des Poirier." The Arsenaults settled to the left of the Tignish Run in an area known as "la Violonière." It is believed that this word was chosen for one of two reasons: perhaps because the Arsenaults in that area were fiddlers (violoneux) or perhaps because the Acadians were used to gather "les violons," a popular term for juniper. The Gaudets settled in the area halfway between "The Green" and present day St. Simon and St. Jude Church. The Doucets/Doucettes settled in the area of Doucette Road, the Bernards in the area of l'Étang-des-Clous/Nail Pond and the DesRoches went to the area of Saint-Félix/St. Felix. The other two families are the Richards and the Chiassons/Chaissons, and they settled respectively in the area of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul/St. Peter & St. Paul and the area north of and bordering the Big Tignish River next to the Arsenaults. 1811 - Arrival of The Irish Twelve years after the Acadians founded Tignish in 1799, the first Irish settlers arrived at Nail Pond, known as "l'Étang-des-Clous" by the French. Other records say the Irish settlers landed in Baie des Chaleurs and came to Norway, Prince Edward Island in an open boat from there. The first Irish settlers were the Reilly brothers, Edward and Michael. These two brothers left Ireland, during the years of hardship there incited by their English oppressors, in search of a new life. Edward and Michael, like many other Irish immigrants, may have been led to believe that they were being dropped off in easy distance of Boston and New York. The following quote was obtained from "L'Impartial Illustré (1899): "They bade adieu to their native land most reluctantly, they loved it most dearly and never would have thought of leaving it if only they could have entertained the faintest hope of receiving at the hands of the ruling or governing classes that measure of justice and fair treatment to which they were entitled."According to "L'Impartial," there were 73 Irish-born individuals comprising 34 families that settled the Tignish area, 25 of whom arrived between the years of 1811 and 1840. Only four families arrived after the year 1850. The following are the names and dates of the arrival of the first Irish families who came to Tignish:
Acadians & Irish Relations
Upon the appointment of Rev. Peter MacIntyre as the first resident priest
The story of Tignish is the history of two nationalities: the Acadians and the Irish.
The relationship between the two was at first more ambivalent than friendly, but today has developed into a relationship of interdependence, cooperation and harmony. It is still
not uncommon to find predominantly Irish families bearing Acadian names and some Acadian families
with Irish surnames.
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village of Mtagunich
(later to be called "The Green" due to its rich green meadows.) In 1803, a census conducted by
the Bishop of Québec revealed there were 102 Acadians at Tignish. The Bishop, Mgr. Denaut,
ordered that their chapel be dedicated to Saint Simon, the Apostle. Today, that area of Tignish
is comprised of the site of the original chapel built in 1801, the pioneer cemetery,
the birthplace of the first Island Acadian priest, Sylvan-Éphrem Poirier (Perry), the site of
the second church built in 1826 and the "côte des Poirier" ("the shore of the Poiriers.")
of Tignish in 1843,
there were 76 Acadian communicants and 40 Irish in Tignish and surrounding areas. The first contact between the Irish and Acadians was tense due to their different languages and cultures.
L'Impartial Illustré (1899) tells the story of how Edward Reilly was drawn into a conflict
with Joseph Bernard, the son of founder Grégoire Bernard. Reilly was so enraged by their
disagreement that he smashed a wooden shovel over Bernard's head. In spite of his impairment,
Joseph emerged a hero, and Edward was renowned among the Acadians as the "fendeur de pelle" (shovel splitter).