Last updated BIS building, St. Patrick's Hall, St. John's, NewfoundlandBIS c. 1906
The Benevolent Irish Society (BIS) is a philanthropic organization founded on 17 February 1806, a month before the Feast of St. Patrick, in St. John's, Newfoundland. It is the oldest philanthropic organization in North America. Membership is open to adult residents of Newfoundland who are of Irish birth or ancestry, regardless of religious persuasion. The BIS is a charitable, fraternal, middle-class social organization founded on the principles of "benevolence and philanthropy", and had as its original objective of helping the growing numbers of poor in St. John's, and providing the necessary skills which would enable people to better themselves. The rules of the BIS prohibited members from formally discussing political or religious questions, but the Society occasionally took a public political stand. In 1829 it participated in a large parade through St. John's to celebrate Roman Catholic Emancipation.
North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered by some to be a northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea.
Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it is composed of the insular region of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador to the northwest, with a combined area of 405,212 square kilometres (156,500 sq mi). In 2018, the province's population was estimated at 525,073. About 92% of the province's population lives on the island of Newfoundland, of whom more than half live on the Avalon Peninsula.
Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.
In the early years of the nineteenth century, St. John's had a large Irish population with some members of affluence. Many of these Irish both saw social needs which were not being met by government, and desired to belong to a fraternal, gentlemanly organization. Under Bishop O'Donel's patronage, they founded the BIS under the motto He that gives to the poor lends to the Lord.
James Louis O'Donel was the first Roman Catholic bishop of St. John's, Newfoundland.
By the 1820s, many BIS members were beginning to play prominent roles in the political life of Newfoundland and the Irish community in St. John's. By the 1840s the BIS had become so wealthy and influential that, next to the House of Assembly and the governor's council, the BIS was able to marshal considerable resources to address social problems and needs. In 1876 it sponsored the establishment in St. John's of the Irish Christian Brothers, and assisted with the maintenance of the Saint Bonaventure's College and the opening of St. Patrick's School.
The Irish are a Celtic nation and ethnic group native to the island of Ireland, who share a common Irish ancestry, identity and culture. Ireland has been inhabited for about 12,500 years according to archaeological studies. For most of Ireland's recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people. Viking invasions of Ireland during the 8th to 11th centuries established the cities of Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick. Anglo-Normans conquered parts of Ireland in the 12th century, while England's 16th/17th-century (re)conquest and colonisation of Ireland brought a large number of English and Lowland Scots people to parts of the island, especially the north. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland and the smaller Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland hold various national identities including British, Irish, Northern Irish or some combination thereof.
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with the poor. Their first school was opened in Waterford, Ireland, in 1802. At the time of its foundation, though much relieved from the harshest of the Penal Laws by the Irish Parliament's Relief Acts, much discrimination against Catholics remained throughout the newly created United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland pending full Catholic Emancipation in 1829.
St. Bonaventure's College is an independent kindergarten to grade 12 Catholic School in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is located in the historic centre of North America's oldest city, adjacent to the Roman Catholic Basilica of St. John The Baptist.
The Taoiseach is the prime minister and head of government of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament), and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.
Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a country in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the eastern side of the island. Around a third of the country's population of 4.8 million people resides in the greater Dublin area. The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south-east, and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann, an upper house, Seanad Éireann, and an elected President who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President; the Taoiseach in turn appoints other government ministers.
John Gerard Bruton is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004 to 2009, Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001, Leader of the Opposition from 1990 to 1994 and 1997 to 2001, Deputy Leader of Fine Gael from 1987 to 1990, Minister for the Public Service from January 1987 to March 1987, Minister for Finance from 1981 to 1982 and 1986 to 1987, Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism from 1983 to 1986, Minister for Industry and Energy from 1982 to 1983, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1973 to 1977. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1969 to 2004.
The headquarters of the BIS, fronting on Queen's Road, backing on Military Road opposite of the Basilicia, with its side on Garrison Hill, was converted into a condominium residence in the late 1990s/early 2000s; the price of a single condo unit can reach over 1 million Canadian dollars. The BIS is now based about two minutes walk west at 30 Harvey Road.
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.
Related Research Articles
A friendly society is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose. Before modern insurance and the welfare state, friendly societies provided financial and social services to individuals, often according to their religious, political, or trade affiliations. These societies are still widespread in many parts of the developing world, where they are referred to as ROSCAs, ASCAs, burial societies, chit funds, etc.
Irish Canadians are Canadian citizens who have full or partial Irish heritage including descendants who trace their ancestry to immigrants who originated in Ireland. 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived from 1825 to 1970, and at least half of those in the period from 1831–1850. By 1867, they were the second largest ethnic group, and comprised 24% of Canada's population. The 1931 national census counted 1,230,000 Canadians of Irish descent, half of whom lived in Ontario. About one-third were Catholic in 1931 and two-thirds Protestant.
Patrick Augustine Feehan, was an Irish-born American Catholic bishop. He served as the fifth Bishop and first Archbishop of Chicago between 1880 and 1902, during which the church in Chicago was elevated to an archdiocese.
A benefit society, fraternal benefit society or fraternal benefit order is a society, an organization or a voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit, for instance insurance for relief from sundry difficulties. Such organizations may be formally organized with charters and established customs, or may arise ad hoc to meet unique needs of a particular time and place. Many major financial institutions existing today, particularly some insurance companies, mutual savings banks, and credit unions, trace their origins back to benefit societies, as can many modern fraternal organizations and fraternal orders which are now viewed as being primarily social; the modern legal system essentially requires all such organizations of appreciable size to incorporate as one of these forms or another to continue to exist on an ongoing basis.
In modern Newfoundland, many Newfoundlanders are of Irish descent. According to the Statistics Canada 2006 census, 21.5% of Newfoundlanders claim Irish ancestry. The family names, the features and colouring, the predominance of Catholics in some areas, the prevalence of Irish music, even the accents of the people in these areas, are so reminiscent of rural Ireland that Irish author Tim Pat Coogan has described Newfoundland as "the most Irish place in the world outside of Ireland", though Coogan's historical accuracy has been widely criticized. Newfoundland has been called "the other Ireland" on a local radio talk show.
Michael Anthony Fleming, O.S.F. was an Irish-born Friar Minor who served as the Roman Catholic Church bishop of the Diocese of St. John's, Newfoundland. He was principally responsible for changing a small mission with several priests in four parishes into a large diocese with over 40,000 congregants and was the single most influential Irish immigrant to come to the Colony of Newfoundland in the 19th century. He was the principal creator of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in St. John's.
Edward Henry Davey was an architect and politician born in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He is best known, along with his brother George, as a builder of the city of St. John's after the great fire of 1892.
Rawlins Cross, formed by the intersection of Prescott Street, Monkstown and Military Roads, is a well known St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador landmark. Military Road, built in 1773, was one of the first roads in this area that joined Fort William with Fort Townsend. Monkstown Road was built in the early 19th century and Prescott Street around 1840. The area where all three came together became to be known as Rawlins Cross, after grocer Patrick Rawlins.
Patrick Doyle was born lived and died in Newfoundland. During his lifetime he was active in a number of areas involving commerce and politics. His first career was as a sea captain making voyages between St. John's and Bristol, England. By 1819 he owned a 46-ton sealing schooner, had acquired numerous properties on the St John’s waterfront and was running a thriving import business. He maintained portions of his business interests throughout his life to provide him with the wealth and prosperity to pursue many other interests.
The flag commonly but mistakenly presented as the Newfoundland Tricolour, "The Pink, White and Green" [sic], is the flag of the Star of the Sea Association, a Roman Catholic Church aid and benefit organization established in St. John's in 1871 with subsequent branches in other locations. This flag is popular among people who are under the impression that it is the Native Flag of Newfoundland. It is not. It is incorrectly believed by some to have once been the Flag of Newfoundland and Labrador, or more usually, the flag of the Island of Newfoundland. It was not. Its proportions are 1:2 with three pales of equal width coloured green, white, and pink. The flag originated in the 1880s as the flag of the Roman Catholic fishermen's aid and benefit organization, the Star of the Sea Association (SOSA). The SOSA still exists as a Catholic Church affiliated organization. The flag is based on the colours of the official banner of the association which is a green background with a white star and a pink cross on it. Pink is a liturgical colour expressing joyous celebration. In the Roman Catholic Church, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is known as the Star of the Sea. The green of the shamrock of Ireland depicts the mostly Irish ancestry of Roman Catholics in Newfoundland. However, the actual Newfoundland tricolour is the red, white and green, in proportion 1:2, flag of the Newfoundland Natives' Society which was founded in 1840 in St. John's with subsequent branches in other communities. The word native in the society's name did not mean only indigenous people were members. Men and women of every race, faith, culture and social standing were welcome as members. "The Red, White and Green" is known as the native flag of Newfoundland.
The Grand Orange Lodge of British America, more commonly known as the Grand Orange Lodge of Canada or simply Orange Order in Canada, is the Canadian branch of the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organization that began in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1795. It has played a large part in the history of Canada, with many prominent members including four Prime Ministers, amongst them Sir John A. Macdonald and John Diefenbaker, as well as Tommy Douglas, founder of the New Democratic Party.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is the Metropolitan see of the Ecclesiastical Province of St. John's, which also includes the suffragan dioceses of Grand Falls, and Corner Brook and Labrador. The current Archbishop is Peter Hundt.
The Nickel Theatre was the first movie theatre in Newfoundland. Part of the five-cent picture show craze that brought daily movies to almost every city and town all across North America, the Nickel opened in the Benevolent Irish Society's St. Patrick's Hall on July 1, 1907, one of a chain of B.F. Keith's Nickels in New England and Eastern Canada. Three more five-cent shows opened in St. John's by October 1907, all in large pre-existing community halls like the Nickel, rather than the small storefront nickelodeon typical of the time in the United States, Ontario, and larger cities in Canada. The Nickel is remembered fondly as the beginnings of moviegoing in Newfoundland, its name used today for the local film festival. While cinema had debuted in December 1897, and moving pictures played in St. Patrick's Hall before 1907, the Nickel indeed offered the people of St. John's daily public amusement for the first time.
A fraternity or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in the Western concept developed in the Christian context, notably with the religious orders in the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages. The concept was eventually further extended with medieval confraternities and guilds. In the early modern era, these were followed by fraternal orders such as freemasons and odd fellows, along with gentlemen's clubs, student fraternities, and fraternal service organizations. Members are occasionally referred to as a brother or – usually in religious context – Frater or Friar.
The Knights of Equity (KOE) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization established in the US in 1895 and still in active operation in the 21st century. The group is among the oldest Irish-Catholic membership associations in America. With some 65 local chapters, called "courts", during its period of greatest influence, the group was an important Catholic political and fraternal benefit society. The early society organized Irish Catholics in America against discrimination, and gave financial aid to impoverished Irish immigrants.
The Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World or IBPOEW is an African-American fraternal order modeled on the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. It was established in 1897 in the United States. In the early 21st century, it has 500,000 members and 1500 lodges in the world.
Scotch-Irish Canadians are those who are Ulster Scots or those who have Ulster Scots ancestry who live in or were born in Canada. Ulster Scots are Lowland Scots and Northern English people who immigrated to the Irish Province of Ulster from the early 17th century after the accession of James I to the English throne. This was known as the Plantation of Ulster.
The St. Patrick's Society of Montreal is the oldest fraternal organization in Canada. In existence since March 17, 1834, it predates the Société Saint-Jean Baptiste by three months. The St. Patrick's Society continues to be a leader in Montreal's Irish community, organizing such annual events as the St. Patrick's Ball, the St. Patrick's Luncheon, and the St. Patrick's Society's annual Christmas concert. The Society's current President is Christie Brown.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
