Irish Benevolent Society of London, Ontario

Irish Benevolent Society of London, Ontario
Abbreviation IBSL
Type Irish organization based in London, Ontario, Canada
Legal status active
Purpose advocate and public voice, educator and network
Headquarters London, Ontario, Canada
Region served
London, Ontario, Canada
Official language
English, French
Affiliations Benevolent Irish Society
Website

The Irish Benevolent Society of London, Ontario is a philanthropic organization founded on March 1, 1877. Its purposes are to provide opportunities for Canadians of Irish descent and their friends to engage in benevolent activities and to preserve their Irish heritage.

The Society was unique at the time of its foundation in accepting both Roman Catholic and Protestant members. In much of Ontario sectarianism ruled, and continued to rule until well into the twentieth century, with the Orange Order pitted against Roman Catholic and other organizations. In fact, the constitution of the Society provides that presidents (who are elected for one year) must be alternately Roman Catholic and Protestant. The discussion of Irish politics has also been forbidden at meetings since the Society's inception. The Society was immediately popular, and as a result of its popularity the importance of separate Protestant and Roman Catholic organizations in municipal politics was markedly reduced.

The Society's chief fundraising event benefits the Lawson Health Research Institute, but it also helps many other institutions and individuals.

See also

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 21, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.