With over 600 documented ghost stories, Montreal is easily the most haunted city in Canada, if not all of North America. Haunted Montreal dedicates itself to researching these paranormal tales, and the Haunted Montreal Blog unveils a newly researched Montreal ghost story on the 13th of every month!

This service is free and you can sign up to our mailing list (top, right-hand corner for desktops and at the bottom for mobile devices) if you wish to receive it every month on the 13th! The blog is published in both English and French!

After a brutal winter, our full slate of outdoor ghost walks are back from the dead! Haunted Griffintown, Haunted Downtown, and Haunted Mountain have joined Haunted Old Montreal on our public schedule.

Our Haunted Pub Crawl continues every Sunday at 3pm in English, and the last Sunday of the month in French…Canadiens Playoff schedule permitting.

And we’ve got a new Paranormal Investigation this month! More info in the Company News Section.

This month we revisit the Black Rock, the Irish Famine cemetery marker surrounded by paranormal activity and political machinations.

Haunted Research

In March 2018, Haunted Montreal first wrote about The Black Rock, a 30-ton granite boulder that marks the site of the city’s second mass grave for Irish Famine victims. Located in an industrial area on Bridge Street, the cemetery has been desecrated repeatedly since 1847.

Over the years, companies have used it as a garbage dump, laid railroad tracks across it and surrounded it with a highway.

More recently a caisson was driven into the heart of the cemetery for a pylon to support the REM light rail system. This resulted in fourteen skeletons being smashed up, then excavated and sent to a laboratory for study.

Needless to say, all of the desecration has resulted in paranormal activity at the cemetery. Ghosts are allegedly haunting both the cemetery and the REM train system.

Today, efforts are being made to transform the derelict resting place of 6000+ souls into a world-class park.

However, despite good intentions, there are major issues with governance of the project.

The Montreal Irish Monument Park Foundation was established in 2014 by Victor Boyle, President of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, as the primary founder.

He invited amateur historian Fergus Keyes to sign the paperwork to establish the organization. They then recruited local Irish community members, politicians, professional historians and international academics to help establish a world-class park on the Irish Famine graveyard. I was asked to join the Board of Directors and accepted.

As the years passed, the project began to take shape slowly. However, there were also tensions within the Montreal Irish Monument Park Foundation’s administration and its membership. Notably, Fergus Keyes started posting material on the group’s Facebook page glorifying British genocidal figures like General Jefferey Amherst and John A. MacDonald.

Given that British Imperialism was responsible for triggering The Irish Famine, many members of the foundation objected.

In response, Keyes blocked and excluded anyone from the project who disagreed with him. This caused more people to protest, including board members.

It wasn’t long before dissenting members of the Board of Directors, myself included, were also scrubbed and replaced – without any voting or governance whatsoever. Other supporters, including the world’s leading academic experts on the Irish Famine in Canada, were soon excluded as well.

Reaction was swift and various stakeholders called for a third-party leadership review, including The Mohawk Mothers. In June 2023, an article appeared in the Eastern Door entitled “Mohawk Mothers defend Black Rock gravesite”.

In the article, Mohawk Mother Kwetiio stated:

“It irked me that someone who was a person on the board was using the platform to promote (keeping the John A. Macdonald statue), because it’s contrary to our people, and it’s racist.” She added: “It’s a big no-no to be profiting off someone’s burial ground, and it also shouldn’t be destroyed in the first place”.

However, Hydro-Québec is now in charge of the park project after buying the land for an electricity substation.

Their bureaucrats refused to consider the leadership review.

In October of the same year, CBC’s The Passionate Eye produced an episode called “Inside the Statue Wars”. It examined colonial statues being toppled and painted red across Canada due to their connections with genocide against Indigenous Peoples.

The episode features various Indigenous people and academics explaining why the genocidal statues are offensive and need to be retired. Fergus Keyes also appeared in the documentary, arguing strongly in favor of preserving the racist colonial statues. According to CBC:

“Fergus Keyes is the director of the Montreal Irish Monument Park Foundation and a self-described history buff. He is a staunch supporter of John A. Macdonald and even has a miniature statue of Canada’s first prime minister in his home.”

The statue is not the only offensive item in Keyes’ macabre collection.  Keyes was present while archaeologists were unearthing skeletons after driving a caisson into the heart of the graveyard to erect a pylon for the REM light rail system. He snatched a piece of a broken famine coffin from the sacred burial ground, which now hangs on his wall.

In the next scandal, Fergus Keyes by-passed the Board of Directors to work with a local microbrewery in crafting a “Black Rock Beer”.

Outrage followed, with Victor Boyle demanding that the microbrewery cease and desist from brewing any more of the Irish Famine stout. He compared it to “Holocaust Wine”.

Boyle stated: “Unfortunately [the microbrewery] met with an individual who acted alone and did not share the idea with the AOH, The Park Foundation Board or the Irish community.”

Then, in March 2024, the Montreal Irish Park Foundation retaliated. It stated on its Facebook page that Victor Boyle “departed” because he was “no longer aligned with the other directors and partners of the Park Foundation regarding the future of the project and how best to achieve our goals” due to “differences in vision”.

However, as the President of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) and the Irish Memorial Park Foundation, Victor Boyle is adamant that he never “departed” but rather was pushed out against his will. He is now pursuing legal action.

The AOH has been trying to protect the cemetery from desecration since its Canadian division was founded in 1892 (the AOH in America was established in 1836). On the last Sunday of every month, Victor Boyle and the AOH organize the annual Walk to the Stone to commemorate the Famine Dead at the Black Rock Cemetery.

Excluding the President from the foundation is a kick in the teeth to the local Irish community and the thousands of Famine Dead buried at the Black Rock.

In 2025, the Montreal Irish Park Foundation announced that Lemay Architects were designing the park.

Founded in Verdun in 1957, Lemay’s website explains: “Inspired and strengthened by transdisciplinary creativity, the firm has also developed its very own NET POSITIVE^TM approach to guide teams towards sustainable solutions that shape a better future.”

However, the design put forward is raising a lot of eyebrows amongst the multitude of stakeholders who were excluded from the park project.

Firstly, it reimagines the cemetery as a community park with a large area surrounding the Black Rock paved over with stone tiles. It also includes curtain-like structures to be built on the cemetery, effectively shielding the Black Rock from passing commuters.

According to Lemay: “At its heart is a terraced agora, where the centrepiece of the Black Rock is framed by a reflective water feature that mirrors the sky and evokes the Irish immigrants’ perilous ocean crossing.”

Ironically, in the design images Lemay released of the “reflective water feature” depicts several children playing happily in the water, as they might in a splash pad.

Other images presented by the company show people walking their dogs on the hallowed cemetery. Furthermore, the green areas outside of the paved over “centerpiece” are littered with boulders in the design.

Overall, Lemay’s concept arguably evokes a recreation area more than a sacred cemetery. The atmosphere depicted seems playful, informal and multi-purpose. Dog-walkers, children seeking a splash pad, and joggers will likely distract those who want to contemplate the burial ground’s tragic history and the 6000+ souls resting below the earth.

In comparison, the Irish Famine cemetery on Grosse-Île is very well designed. The mass grave is grassy, the burial trenches are evident in the soil depressions, and it is marked with dozens of white crosses.

People are discouraged from walking on the mass grave. Instead, there is a commemorative viewing area where visitors can stand while contemplating the rolling mounds and the 5000 or so Irish refugees buried under them.

Visiting it is widely described as a profound experience.

In addition, a 14-metre-tall granite Celtic Cross towers over the island’s highest point, Telegraph Hill. Erected in 1909 by the AOH, the solemn monument complements the cemetery with its Irish religious symbolism.

The overall design on Grosse-Île is top-notch. It respects the Famine cemetery and provides visitors with a sombre and contemplative atmosphere that will leave lasting impressions.

In contrast, Lemay’s NET POSITIVE™ design highlights the company’s “commitment to creating sustainable, healthy, and accessible living environments for all”.

While Lemay’s goals are noble, the Black Rock Cemetery is meant to be a space reserved for the 6000+ Irish Famine Dead buried there. The current design, while well-intended, does not come close to matching the world-class Famine cemetery on Grosse-Île.

This is perhaps not surprising, given that the Irish Monument Park Foundation expelled its foremost experts – AOH President Victor Boyle, along with countless academics, historians, conceptual artists, etc.

The question remains how the Famine ghosts will react to the proposed park design. The Dead do not like to be disrespected and the concept of children splashing in the reflecting pool above their graves, along with dog walkers and joggers traversing the burial grounds may not sit well. Of course, this could spur even more hauntings.

One thing is certain, for this park design to succeed it is imperative to invite the experts back into the project. Lemay’s design needs to go back to the drawing board with the original stakeholders being consulted. Only this way can a world-class park be designed and developed at Montreal’s Black Rock Irish Famine Cemetery.

Company News

Haunted Montreal and Dominique Desormeaux invite you to our newest Paranormal Investigation: The Dark Past of New France. This takes place in Old Montreal, and starts May 29th in French and May 30th in English. Details and ticket info will be available by the end of the week. Please check our social media channels and website.

The Irish Famine Walking Tour returns Saturday, May 30th, at 2pm. Donovan King takes you to key sites associated with Black ’47, the year 75,000 Irish refugees fleeing the Famine landed on Montreal’s wharves. This includes the Black Rock, the subject of this very blog.

No longer in the test phase, we will be launching Colonial Secrets of Old Montreal later this month. This daytime tour hosted by Sophie-Claude Miller smashes through the “tourist gaze” to reveal the area’s hidden histories, glossed-over facts and dark truths.

Haunted Old Montreal continues to run, as Haunted Griffintown, Haunted Downtown, and Haunted Mountain join it on our public outdoor ghost walk schedule. Hosted by a professional actor and storyteller, these theatrical tours explore Montreal’s haunted hidden past, and ghostly present.

Our Haunted Pub Crawl continues to run every Sunday at 3pm in English, and the last Sunday of each month at 2pm in French. However, when there is a Montreal Canadiens Playoff game on Sunday at the Bell Centre, the bars on our tour near it will be full, so the Haunted Pub Crawl can’t happen. We are working on an alternate day for those weeks, so you can still enjoy some spirits with some spirits and cheer on the Habs.

Private tours for any of our experiences can be booked at any time based on the availability of our actors.

Clients can request any date, time, language and operating tour. These tours are based on the availability of our actors and start at $250 for small groups of up to 8 people. Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!

You can also bring the Haunted Montreal experience to your office party, house, school or event by booking one of our Travelling Ghost Storytellers today.

Hear some of the spookiest tales from our tours and our blog told by a professional actor and storyteller. You provide the venue, we provide the stories and storyteller. Find out more and then contact info@hauntedmontreal.com

In other news, if you want to send someone a haunted experience as a gift, you certainly can!

We are offering Haunted Montreal Gift Certificates through our website and redeemable via Eventbrite for any of our in-person or virtual events (no expiration date).

Our online shop is offline for the next few months. If you would like to purchase any Haunted Montreal-branded t-shirts or mugs in the meantime, please contact us at info@hauntedmontreal.com

Holly and Dr. Mab are back! Now part of Stygian Media, they will continue releasing Haunted Montreal videos based on our blogs in English and French among other horror-themed content.

Please like, subscribe and hit the bell!

Haunted Montreal also has temporarily altered its blog experience due to a commitment on a big writing project! Until further notice, we will be offering updates on old stories every second month and the regular blog service alternating.

Haunted Montreal would like to thank all our clients who attended a ghost walk, haunted pub crawl, paranormal investigation or virtual event!

If you enjoyed the experience, we encourage you to write a review on our Tripadvisor page and/or on Google Reviews – something that really helps Haunted Montreal to market its tours.

Lastly, if you would like to receive the Haunted Montreal Blog on the 13th of each month, please sign up to our mailing list.

Update on June 13: The Ghost of Headless Mary Returns on June 27^th   

Every seven years on the anniversary of her murder, the headless ghost of Mary Gallagher returns to Griffintown. Her last appearance was in 2019, which means she is returning again this year. Haunted Montreal is planning a host of activities including a book launch, statue unveiling, ghost tours, a candle-lit memorial and much more to welcome her back! Stay tuned for more details!

Author:

Donovan King is a postcolonial historian, teacher, tour guide and professional actor. As the founder of Haunted Montreal, he combines his skills to create the best possible Montreal ghost stories, in both writing and theatrical performance. King holds a DEC (Professional Theatre Acting, John Abbott College), BFA (Drama-in-Education, Concordia), B.Ed (History and English Teaching, McGill), MFA (Theatre Studies, University of Calgary) and ACS (Montreal Tourist Guide, Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec). He is also a certified Montreal Destination Specialist.

Translator (into French):

Claude Chevalot holds a master’s degree in applied linguistics from McGill University. She is a writer, editor and translator. For more than 15 years, she has devoted herself almost exclusively to literary translation and to the translation of texts on current and contemporary art.

With over 500 documented ghost stories, Montreal is easily the most haunted city in Canada, if not all of North America. Haunted Montreal dedicates itself to researching these paranormal tales, and the Haunted Montreal Blog unveils a newly researched Montreal ghost story on the 13th of every month!

This service is free and you can sign up to our mailing list (top, right-hand corner for desktops and at the bottom for mobile devices) if you wish to receive it every month on the 13th! The blog is published in both English and French!

With the Hallowe’en Season fast approaching, Haunted Montreal’s seasons of public outdoor ghost tours is in full swing! Offered every Friday and Saturday Sunday, we have four ghost tours on rotation (Old Montreal, Griffintown, Downtown and Mount Royal.)

Our Haunted Pub Crawl is also offered every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 4 pm.

Our Paranormal Investigation in the Old Sainte Antoine Cemetery happens on the first Friday and Saturday of every month.

Private tours for all of our experiences (including outdoor tours) can be booked at any time based on the availability of our actors. Clients can request any date, time, language and operating tour. These tours start at $215 for small groups of up to 7 people.

Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!

Lastly, we have an online store for those interested in Haunted Montreal merchandise. More details are below in our Company News section!

This month we examine one section of Montreal’s new light rail system, the REM, which is finally operational. The line, running from Central Station in Montreal to Brossard, passes over the Black Rock Irish Famine Cemetery. Given that the REM desecrated the hallowed ground by removing over a dozen bodies to insert a concrete pylon, many people speculated that the REM would become haunted. It appears to be the case – since its opening, the REM has been plagued with numerous electrical problems and was even struck by lightning!

Haunted Research

After years of planning and construction, the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) finally opened the first leg of its light train system on July 31, 2023. This section of track runs from Montreal’s Central Station to Brossard on the South Shore.

However, it has been plagued with various problems, from electrical failures and noise complaints to broken elevators and passengers being deployed to train garages.

There are also major delays on the construction of the Griffintown Station, which is very late and likely will not open in the near future. It appears that CDPQ Infra, the organization in charge of the project, has been caught totally off-guard.

While it might be tempting to say that it is bad luck causing the REM’s woes, a much more likely cause is paranormal activity triggered by angry Irish Famine ghosts.

Haunted Montreal has been following and blogging this story for several years now. Part 1 of the blog appeared in January, 2020 and examined the REM’s decision to desecrate the Irish Famine Cemetery at the Black Rock. Indeed, the REM’s workers dug up over a dozen skeletons to insert a concrete monorail pylon into the heart of the cemetery.

Generally-speaking, the Dead do not like to be disturbed, especially when their funerary marker, the ominous Black Rock, is engraved with the following words:

“To Preserve from Desecration the Remains of 6000 Immigrants Who died of Ship Fever A.D. 1847- 48.”

Part 1 speculated that the light rail system would likely become haunted due to the desecration. It also theorized which ghosts might appear to haunt the trains and surrounding infrastructure.

Part 2 of the series offered the REM an inexpensive solution to prevent the Irish Famine ghosts from infesting the system by painting the concrete pylon Haint Blue, a colour known to ward off spirits.

Haunted Montreal warned REM officials that failure to comply would almost certainly result in the new system becoming ghost-infested. However, REM administrator Isabelle Lachance dismissed these concerns, stating that there were no plans to paint the pylon Haint Blue.

Paranormal expert Dominique Desormeaux had warned about the disturbing consequences of the REM’s failure to protect its transportation system: “Ghosts will feast on the electrical side. They look for a source to be able to manifest themselves, so yes, ghosts will haunt the REM. I’m telling you, you will see people complaining about strange stuff happening at the REM and to the people working there. The ghosts will even cause trouble for the train and there will be often be power shortages and train malfunctions.”

Unfortunately for the REM, Desormeaux’s predictions turned out to be true for the most part.

On the first day of the REM’s grand opening, electrical problems started appearing throughout the rail network. In fact, the system experienced three power failures during the first three days, forcing passengers off the trains and onto busses.

Furthermore, many elevators and escalators broke down, leaving many disabled passengers stranded and upset.

Then, the evening after opening, three REM passengers were mistakenly sent to a train garage in Brossard. A man named Grégoire, his wife and a tourist from South America ended up trapped in the REM’s garage after the driverless train seemed to take on a life of its own. Instead of driving towards Montreal, it unexpectedly drove backwards from the station into the train garage where it turned itself off.

According to Grégoire: “The train shut down, the lights were dim and then we were looking around, there was no way out and we could see all the trains around us, so that was kind of spooky.”

Fearing they were going to “spend the night” on the train, Grégoire’s wife used the intercom system to tell security guards that they were trapped in the garage. Ten minutes later, an operator ordered the driverless train return to the Brossard station.

From there, REM staff picked them up and drove them home.

The next major incident was literally shocking – a lightning bolt hit the REM! On the night of August 3rd, the electric bolt zapped the light rail system, temporarily halting its operation.

CDPQ Infra’s director of communications, Jean-Vincent Lacroix, later explained that the REM “is designed” to deal with this type of event.

However, a local Irish-Montrealer named Seamus who has ancestors buried at the Black Rock stated: “It’s God himself who is striking the REM with lightning because they desecrated the Irish Famine Dead. What a disgrace! Indeed, I predict that the Dear Lord will continue sending the lightning bolts until the whole system is destroyed! When you mess with the Irish Famine Dead, you are messing with God himself!”

Furthermore, there have been reports that whenever the REM train passes over the Black Rock Irish Famine Cemetery, strange things tend to happen. For example, sometimes the train starts shaking and other times the interior lights begin flickering on and off. In another case, a rider from Brossard complained of feeling nauseous every time the REM train rolls over the hallowed burial ground.

There have also been endless noise complaints from those living in the condo towers that have sprouted up along the line in neighborhoods like Griffintown and Nun’s Island. Initial promises by REM officials to mitigate excessive noise have not born fruit.

Journalists have determined the trains generate a noise level ranging from 75 to 100 decibels, which is far higher than the 55 decibels recommended by the World Health Organization.

Nearby residents have complained this the endless noise exposure causes stress, impacts mental health, and contributes to issues such as high blood pressure and sleep deprivation.

In addition, CDPQ Infra initially stated the new Griffintown station would be finished and up-and-running in 2024.

However, after numerous delays, CDPQ Infra is no longer committing to a completion date.

“We are still studying the possibilities for the construction of this station. It is made more complex by other projects that are in the vicinity and because the train is currently in operation,” CDPQ Infra said in a statement.

To make matters worse, Mayor Valerie Plante turned a blind eye to concerns from the local and international Irish communities when she insisted on co-branding the station with Bernard Landry, a deceased politician.

Despite pleas from the Irish communities and negative local and international media reports, Plante rebranded the station “Griffintown-Bernard-Landry.”

Given the disrespect and endless delays, many in the Irish community believe the station is cursed – and will never be completed. Indeed, according to Seamus: “Griffintown was once Canada’s largest Irish neighborhood. It was where the survivors of the Irish Famine settled during the dark days of Black ’47 after crossing the Atlantic on coffin ships. Rebranding the Griff is nothing short of sacrilege and that REM station is doomed, I tell you!”

Lastly, there one of the most serious issues. Since Hydro-Québec purchased the land where the Black Rock cemetery lies in 2017 to build a new substation, there has been a lot of doubt about its promise to preserve the burial ground. Hydro-Québec had promised to build a world-class park on the site in conjunction with Montreal’s Irish community.

However, since Hydro-Québec got involved there has been one desecration after another against the Irish Famine Dead and their memory. An upcoming Part 4 of this series will delve into those issues and related hauntings.

To conclude, the REM has failed to protect its system from the paranormal. In desecrating the Irish Famine Dead at the Black Rock Cemetery with a concrete pylon, REM essentially invited their ghosts to haunt the system. The resulting disturbances, electrical and otherwise, will likely only intensify in the future.

As such, ride the REM at your own risk!

Company News

With the Hallowe’en Season fast approaching, Haunted Montreal’s seasons of public outdoor ghost tours is in full swing! Offered every Friday and Saturday night, we have four ghost tours on rotation (Old Montreal, Griffintown, Downtown and Mount Royal.)

Our Haunted Pub Crawl is also offered every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 4 pm.

Our Paranormal Investigation in the Old Sainte Antoine Cemetery happens on the first Friday and Saturday of every month.

Private tours for any of our experiences (including outdoor tours) can be booked at any time based on the availability of our actors. Clients can request any date, time, language and operating tour. These tours are based on the availability of our actors and start at $215 for small groups of up to 7 people.

Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!

You can bring the Haunted Montreal experience to your office party, house, school or event by booking one of our Travelling Ghost Storytellers today.

Hear some of the spookiest tales from our tours and our blog told by a professional actor and storyteller. You provide the venue, we provide the stories and storyteller. Find out more and then contact info@hauntedmontreal.com

Our team also releases videos every second Saturday, in both languages, of ghost stories from the Haunted Montreal Blog. Hosted by Holly Rhiannon (in English) and Dr. Mab (in French), this initiative is sure to please ghost story fans!

Please like, subscribe and hit the bell!

In other news, if you want to send someone a haunted experience as a gift, you certainly can!

We are offering Haunted Montreal Gift Certificates through our website and redeemable via Eventbrite for any of our in-person or virtual events (no expiration date).

Finally, we have an online store for those interested in Haunted Montreal merchandise. We are selling t-shirts, magnets, sweatshirts (for those haunted fall and winter nights) and mugs with both the Haunted Montreal logo and our tour imagery.

Purchases can be ordered through our online store.

Haunted Montreal would like to thank all of our clients who attended a ghost walk, haunted pub crawl, paranormal investigation or virtual event!

If you enjoyed the experience, we encourage you to write a review on our Tripadvisor page, something that really helps Haunted Montreal to market its tours.

Lastly, if you would like to receive the Haunted Montreal Blog on the 13th of every month, please sign up to our mailing list.

Coming up on October 13: Dow Brewery

Built in 1861, the massive Dow Brewery in Grffintown was once the largest producer of beer in Montreal. However, after a poisoned beer scandal in the 1960s, the brewery began falling into a slow decline. In 1998, it was abandoned – electricity was cut off and the building was allowed to fall into ruins. Contaminated with asbestos, the Dow Brewery has since been used by urban explorers, ghost hunters and mediums. With a confused ghostly girl sometimes appearing inside the ruined building, many are convinced that the old brewery is haunted.

Author:

Donovan King is a postcolonial historian, teacher, tour guide and professional actor. As the founder of Haunted Montreal, he combines his skills to create the best possible Montreal ghost stories, in both writing and theatrical performance. King holds a DEC (Professional Theatre Acting, John Abbott College), BFA (Drama-in-Education, Concordia), B.Ed (History and English Teaching, McGill), MFA (Theatre Studies, University of Calgary) and ACS (Montreal Tourist Guide, Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec). He is also a certified Montreal Destination Specialist.

Translator (into French):

Claude Chevalot holds a master’s degree in applied linguistics from McGill University. She is a writer, editor and translator. For more than 15 years, she has devoted herself almost exclusively to literary translation and to the translation of texts on current and contemporary art.