Bathurst Celtic Cross
By Pat Murphy
In 1995, the Bathurst Chapter of the Irish Canadian Cultural Association formed a committee to erect a Celtic cross to commemorate the many ancestors of the Irish in the Bathurst area. The cross stands as a symbol to remind us that our present circumstance is a result of those who struggled before us to develop a new life in a new land.
Bathurst Celtic Cross in Richelieu Park
This committee raised funds by gathering names to be placed on the base of the Cross and after two years of work finally had enough names to make the Cross a reality.
In 1997 the City of Bathurst was good enough to donate a piece of land for the monument. The monument is prominently located in the middle of the Causeway, now known as Richelieu Park.
The cross stands 14’ high setting in the middle of a bricked area. A second monument stands 5 feet away to accommodate the overflow of names. At the entrance to the site is a wall built of granite stones, which were donated to the Chapter when the Mount Carmel Church in Bathurst was torn down.