Description

The following is the second installment
of an article which appeared in Issue
21. The Repeal movement centered on
an Irish constitutional issue, repeal of
the Act of Union of 1801, which had
extinguished the autonomous Irish
Parliament and provided for the election
of a fixed number of Irish MPs to
the British Parliament. Born in Ireland,
the campaign for Repeal flourished
wherever communities of emigrant
Irishmen gathered. From Halifax
and St. John's, hotbeds of Repeal sentiment
in the Atlantic region, the
Repeal gospel was carried to Prince
Edward Island in the early 1840s. Now,
a century and a half later, lists of those
who attended Repeal rallies provide
important clues for genealogists and
pose tantalizing questions for historians
of 19th century Prince Edward
Island.