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.
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.
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.
In 1996, the then Taoiseach of Ireland, John Bruton, visited the BIS in St. Patrick's Hall on St. Patrick's Day.
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.
and 22 Related for: Benevolent Irish Society information
The BenevolentIrishSociety (BIS) is a philanthropic organization founded on 17 February 1806, a month before the Feast of St. Patrick, in St. John's...
organisation BenevolentIrishSociety, Newfoundland philanthropic organisation This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title IrishSociety. If...
The Portland Longshoremans BenevolentSociety was a trade union and benevolentsociety in Portland, Maine, United States. It existed as an independent...
International Settlements, an international financial institution BenevolentIrishSociety, a Canadian philanthropic organization Bezpečnostní informační...
Irish Canadians (Irish: Gael-Cheanadaigh) are Canadian citizens who have full or partial Irish heritage including descendants who trace their ancestry...
A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolentsociety, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association...
Association and the BenevolentIrishSociety. There are strong ties between traditional Québécois music and the music of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland and the...
NL: Boulder Publications. p. 336. ISBN 9781459301238. "History – BenevolentIrishSociety". Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. "October 2013"...
and Celtic Performing Arts concert series (Highland Storm), The BenevolentIrishSociety Ceilis, The Orwell Corner ceilidhs, the Summerside Highland Gathering...
celebrated at the Chapel, attended by the BenevolentIrishSociety and the Catholic-dominated Mechanics' Society. Vessels in the harbour flew flags and discharged...
Retrieved 3 January 2021. "Minister of State Ciarán Cannon, TD - BenevolentIrishSociety, Community Reception". dfa.ie. Department of Foreign Affairs. 29...
The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association, formed in the wake of the French Revolution, to secure representative government in Ireland. Despairing...
city and town all across North America, the Nickel opened in the BenevolentIrishSociety's St. Patrick's Hall on July 1, 1907, one of a chain of B.F. Keith's...
John's Royal Regatta Committee St. John's Rotary Club President, BenevolentIrishSociety (1942–1954) Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, Volume two...
many parents". By 1851, the Medical BenevolentSociety had limited itself to the foundation of a single Benevolent College and met in Treasurer John Propert's...
Scallan, O.S.F., the Vicar Apostolic for Newfoundland, and the BenevolentIrishSociety, Fleming was recruited to come and serve as a priest in the colony...
when they marched alongside the BenevolentIrishSociety in St. John's during their centenary celebrations parade of Irish nationalist Daniel O'Connell's...
itinerant Irish harpists, and secondarily, of promoting the study of the Irish language, history, and antiquities. For its patronage, the original society drew...
1886. Kent also served as president of the BenevolentIrishSociety from 1883 to 1891 and of the Law Society of Newfoundland from 1888 to 1893. He died...
then to Laura Hartigan in 1923. He was a member of the St. John's BenevolentIrishSociety. In 1877, Sinnott, never having built anything previously, constructed...