The Irishman - Child of the Gael

In The Irishman – Children of the Gael, our narrator, Sean, recounts his maternal and paternal ancestors’ dramatic immigrant experiences in Canada from the mid-1800s to the early 20th century. Fleeing desperate conditions in Ireland, survival in the new world is a struggle of a different sort, involving quarantine, isolation and backbreaking employment, first building the Victoria Bridge, then constructing the railways and canals that will open Canada’s frontiers to trade and settlement. This graphic novel is based on Mike Burns’ book of stories entitled The Water of Life (Chemin des Cantons, 2009). The illustrations by Montreal filmmaker G. Scott MacLeod have been adapted from his animated film of the same story.