The Story
This brief saga trails the life of an Irishman, Michael, as he flees the early troubles leading up to the Great Famine. Michael sails to Bytown in Canada, only to find more conflict inside a triangle of mob wars between:
The Uppertown-hired military authorities—Royal Engineers working as an ad hoc police force for Bytown,
A band of hard-hitting French Canadian lumberman—lead by the pugilist giant Jos Montferrand,
And a new gang of savage Irish marauders dubbed "The Shiners" who attempt to capture Bytown's logging trade under the command of the Shiner King—Peter Aylen.
Set in the rough foundation of 1830's Ottawa, The Shiners' War brings to life the chaos and brutality of Canada's capital city as it began to take shape, through the striking artistry of Toronto cartoonist Shawn Daley.
Find, among the ranks of characters, other prolific faces of Irish Ottawa's lore, as well as modern-day landmarks including Lowertown, the Byward Market, Parliament Hill, the Rideau Canal, Mother McGuinty's Pub, and many more.
The Background
In the early 19th century, Ottawa was a lawless place. The Napoleonic wars in Europe had cut off Britain’s continental timber supply, and she now looked to her colonies for new markets. This was the start of Ottawa’s infamous lumber trade. The Rideau Canal was ordered a short time afterward for a military link between Kingston and Montreal.
Ottawa (then called Bytown) was divided along class and tribal lines. The English and Scottish held most of the positions of authority and comprised the upper class. The French occupied the next strata as tradesmen and experienced lumbermen. Out of this tribe comes the legend of Jos Montferrand—a giant of a man for his time—who was known for his decency and good humour, while concurrently hailed as the toughest man in the area. He was the primary defender and champion of the French. His story has morphed into a Canadian version of Paul Bunyan, with his name known better anglicized as Big Joe Mufferaw (one of Stompin Tom Connors' most notable songs).
The lowest rung on the ladder were the Irish. The canal was built by the cheap labour of French workers and Pre-Famine Irish immigrants. The Irish were escaping a country dominated by a foreign power, overpopulated, and rife with violence. When work was completed on the canal, the workless Irish formed a gang known as the Shiners. The origin of the name is still a bit of a mystery, though one theory was proposed that these Irish thought they would shine above the others. At first, the Shiners were disorganized, but a man named Peter Aylen, sympathetic to their plight, soon united them to take over Ottawa’s lucrative limber trade from the French, and eventually to threaten the English and Scottish establishment. Peter Aylen was an ambitious provocateur whose own story is quite fascinating. The Shiner War officially lasted between 1835 to 1845 but the conflicts started earlier and lasted longer than this recorded date.
This story is completely fictional, and is a rendering of what life might have been like for an Irish immigrant in a hostile new world. I have left out many of the groups who have contributed to the rich mosaic of Ottawa and Canada, as I felt I did not have the proper authority to tell their stories. This is a primarily Irish story told by an Irish descendant.
