Irish Catholics, Irish Catholicism, and British Loyalty in Upper Canada, 1819-1840

Unsettled Settlers: Irish Catholics, Irish Catholicism, and British loyalty in Upper Canada, 1819-1840 by Laura J. Smith A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto © Copyright by Laura J. Smith 2017 Unsettled Settlers: Irish Catholics, Irish Catholicism, and British loyalty in Upper Canada, 1820-1838 Laura J. Smith Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto 2017 Abstract This dissertation examines the role of Roman Catholicism in the process by which Irish Catholics integrated into Upper Canadian society in the first half of the nineteenth- century. For Upper Canadian Irish Catholics, Roman Catholicism was a “settling” force. In addition to providing familiar spiritual succor to individual migrants, religion provided order, organization, and focus to individual settlement and was the point upon which community-building efforts were frequently centred. But the Roman Catholicism of the Irish in Upper Canada was also “unsettling.” It was perceived by the dominant Protestant society as a key element in the inappropriate cultural baggage with which Irish Catholic migrants travelled, it was a barrier to political power and social advancement, and was believed to be at the root of violence and anti-social behaviour attributed to the Irish in the period. Despite repeated demonstrations of loyalty and good intentions in perpetuating the British connection on the part of the province’s Irish Catholic population, persistent and preexisting prejudices about Ireland and the politics, ii motivations, and abilities of Roman Catholic Irish, meant that population persisted as an outlier in colonial society. The local orientation and scope of Roman Catholicism amongst Irish settlers in Upper Canada challenges the transnational emphasis in the current historiography of Irish Roman Catholicism and offers an offers an additional model to the process by which the Irish came to dominate the English-speaking Roman Catholic Church. In Upper Canada, the extra-institutional migration of clergy and lay people, and the community-oriented religious practice at the mission and parish level was vital to the progress of Catholicism in the colony. Consequently the diocese of Kingston and the Upper Canadian context demonstrate the extent to which the influence of the Irish on the progress of Catholicism in the English-speaking settler world must include the local as well as transnational contexts. iii Acknowledgements In a project of some duration and scope it is only natural that considerable debts be accumulated. My research was helped in no small measure by many very able archivists: Noelle Dowling at the Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin; Marc Lerman, Gillian Hearns, and Andrea D’Angelo at the Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto; Father Dan Ryan at the Archdiocese of Kingston; Deborah Majer at the Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of London; and Armand Gagné at the Archidiocese de Québec. I was fortunate over the years to receive over the years the support and advice of the generous scholars, Jane Errington, Marguerite Van Die, Jan Noel, Franca Iacovetta, Ian Radforth, David Wilson, and Bruce Elliott. My supervisor Mark G. McGowan deserves particular thanks. He never faltered in his enthusiasm and support for my work, and was a kind and understanding mentor and exemplary historian. In Toronto, the friendship and support of Barb Legault, Julia Rady-Shaw, Brandon Corcoran, Mike Wilcox, Beth Jewett, and Dan Rosenthal made the often- isolating experience of completing a humanities doctorate very bearable. My father James Smith, also a student of history was an excellent sounding board as I formulated the project in the early stages. I am not at all surprised, and incredibly proud that he beat me to convocation. Some very lovely folks, my friends Meghan Batho and Craig Mitchell, and my Uncle Aidan Smith provided warm hospitality, great chats, and much-needed shelter in Ottawa, London, and Dublin respectively. My life has changed immeasurably over the course of the research and writing of this dissertation. Little did I know that upon embarking on this project, I would complete iv it with a few extra persons in my life, and a full-time job entirely unconnected to the academy. My sons John and Paul were not part of my scholarly life plan, but their presence in my life over the last five years has contributed immeasurably to my growth as a person and as a scholar. Nevertheless it is to my great relief that my children have grandparents who are more than willing to spend time with them. By taking over childcare each week my mother Bernadette Smith, my father-in-law John Lucente, and my mother-in-law Jean Lucente, provided priceless time to think and write. This thesis would not have been possible without their help. Finally, to my husband and partner Michael. I am so thankful for your quiet and capable support in all its forms over the past decade. My first memory of you is from grade 10 History class. There you were frequently shocking, deliberately contrary, and entirely logical; you were the sole critical thinker amongst a group of fifteen year olds unwilling or unable to question the historical narratives found in our textbooks. While your career aspirations took you in the opposite direction from History, this historian is thankful that you continue to challenge, provoke, and analyze the world around you and share it all with her. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 “Little better than Banditti:” Irish Catholic Emigration and Settlement in 1820s Upper Canada........................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 2 “We want neither political, nor speculating, nor fortune-hunting priests”: Irish Roman Catholic clergy in Upper Canada, 1805-1841 .......................................... 90 Chapter 3 “We poor sinners”: Irish Catholicism, religious practice, and building community on the Upper Canadian frontier ....................................................... 163 Chapter 4 “A parcel of bullies and a band of assassins”: Irish Lay leadership and initiative in the Diocese of Kingston, 1805-1836 ............................................... 228 Chapter 5 “Divisions and heart burnings:” Irish Catholics and popular colonial politics, 1830-1837 ........................................................................................................... 288 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 365 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 380 Introduction In the immediate aftermath of the aborted Upper Canadian rebellion, speaking with “one voice” and calling themselves “dutiful and loyal subjects,” the Irishmen of Toronto publicly pledged their “love and veneration” for the British Empire, their “fidelity and attachment” to the queen, and their commitment to defend Upper Canada from the “domestic traitor and foreign enemy.” Their declaration of loyalty was by no means unusual in the politically turbulent 1830s, and it was one of a number of addresses made by Upper Canadian Irish communities in this period, but the Irish were the only Upper Canadian ethnic group to feel compelled to offer separate proofs of their devotion to the crown. In a decade marked by the rise of the Loyal Orange Institution in the province, and the spectre of sectarianism infusing colonial politics, the public assertion and demonstration of unanimity on the part of the Toronto Irish spoke to a concerted attempt to eliminate the most controversial and visible element of the Irish presence in Upper Canada. Presuming to speak for the entire Irish population of the province of Upper Canada, the Toronto Irishmen addressed the legacy of political and religious turmoil in Ireland that lingered over the Irish in Upper Canada by denying any connection to it. Their attachment to Ireland, the Toronto men argued, their “individual connection” to it, was “broken off, beyond all hope of renewal.” Rather than regretting this disconnect, their “principal consolation and happiness” was that the “land of [their] adoption form[ed] a portion of your Majesty’s Great Empire.” They were grateful to be 1 among the “favored people” who under British rule were “secure in the enjoyment of rational liberty, equal laws and settled institutions.”1 The stakes were high for the Irish Catholics of Upper Canada in the aftermath of the rebellion and their participation in the Toronto meeting sought to capitalize on the apparent lack of Irish and Catholic participation in the rebellion. Prior to the rebellion, a colonial memory of Irish history and extensive colonial press coverage of contemporary Irish politics cast doubt on the sincerity of Irish Catholic assertions of loyalty and devotion to the Crown. Any hint of Roman Catholic political agitation or violence, particularly in reference to the Orange Order, an increasingly visible

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