Irishtown-Summerside

Irishtown-Summerside, NL, incorporated as a town in 1991, population 1428 (2011c), 1290 (2006c). The Town of Irishtown-Summerside is the result of the merger of Irishtown and Summerside (both were incorporated as towns in 1970). Irishtown-Summerside is located on Humber Arm in the Bay of Islands near Corner Brook.

French and English fishermen began fishing in the Bay of Islands in the early 1700s, but permanent settlement in this area really dates from the early 1800s. The name Irishtown refers to the ethnic background of these early settlers, who were attracted to the area by the salmon, herring and lobster fisheries and the possibility of supplementing fishing with cutting timber or trapping furs for trade. Summerside was first settled at about the same time. As early as the 1830s an Acadian family named Petipas is reported to have lived in the Summerside area. The community was closely associated with the herring fishery and also had a shipyard and sawmill. It was named because it is on the sunny side of Humber Arm.

The development of the Corner Brook paper mill in the 1920s had a significant impact on Irishtown and Summerside. The population grew as people were attracted to the area, and more and more residents began to work in Corner Brook.

Today Irishtown-Summerside has become effectively a bedroom community for Corner Brook.