Memorable Manitobans: William Arthur Irish (1872-1941)

William Arthur Irish Click to enlarge

Building contractor.

Born at Yarker, Ontario on 17 September 1872, son of George W. Irish (1834-1912) and Catherine Irish, he came to Manitoba with his parents in the early 1890s and worked at Carberry and Virden before coming to Winnipeg where he operated a contracting business in partnership with his brother-in-law John Alexander Saul. They also operated a brickworks at Virden in the 1890s. He was later President of the W. A. Irish & Company, President of the Builders’ Mutual Supply Company, President of the Western Savings and Loan Association, and a Director of the Equitable Trust Company.

On 28 January 1922, he married Mary Edith Fares (1890-1980, daughter of William Henry Fares) at Winnipeg and they had three children: William C. “Bill” Irish (1922-2015), Elizabeth Irish, and Gwendoline Joyce “Gwen” Irish (wife of James Eno Pompilio). He was a member of the Manitoba Club, Motor Country Club, and Southwood Golf Club. In 1930, he was involved in a bitter dispute over the will of his friend Alexander Macdonald.

He died at his Winnipeg home, 755 Wellington Crescent, on 1 November 1941 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery. His pallbearers were J. S. Currie, N. Brewer, E. D. Pratt, G. Dummert, H. S. Stidston, and R. Pollock. His honorary pallbearers were Clarence Day Shepard, Robert Dunbar Guy, Edwin Henry Bennest, A. J. Brown, W. McLandress, W. Griffith, and H. Darling.

Some of his construction works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Blue Ribbon Building (Anne Building)	87 King Street (88 Arthur Street), Winnipeg	1901
Parkhill House	182 Spence Street, Winnipeg	1904
Ideal Bedding Building	288 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1904	Demolished (2017)
Bell Block	370 Donald Street, Winnipeg	1905
Ivanhoe Court	277 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg	1909
Linda Vista Apartments / Birchmont Apartments	171 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg	1910	Demolished (?)
Carlyle Apartments	580 Broadway, Winnipeg	1911
Rose Theatre	801 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg	1926
Plaza Theatre	104 Marion Street, Winnipeg	1926	Demolished (?)
Forlong House	295 Dromore Avenue, Winnipeg	1928
Parkleigh Apartments	265 Morley Avenue, Winnipeg	1928
Guy House	207 Lamont Boulevard, Winnipeg	1929
Spera House (move)	2 Middle Gate, Winnipeg	1929
Safeway Store No. 506	595 Broadway, Winnipeg	1929
Safeway Store No. 507	893 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1929
Safeway Store No. 509	1333 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1929
Safeway Store No. 511	785 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg	1929	Demolished (?)
Safeway Store No. 523	1411 Main Street, Winnipeg	1929
McRae and Griffith Garage and Auto Sales Building	Hargrave Street, Winnipeg	1929-1930	Demolished (?)
Scarsdale Apartments	71 Kennedy Street, Winnipeg	1930
Rubidge Block (renovations)	336-338 Colony Street, Winnipeg	1935	Demolished (?)
Enderton Building (renovations)	334 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1936	Demolished (1969)
Enderton Building (renovations)	334 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1938	Demolished (1969)

Sources:

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Who's Who and Why, Volumes 6 and 7, 1915-1916, page 661.

Marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Beautiful residence on Dromore Street,” Manitoba Free Press, 12 May 1928, page 36.

“Safeway stores receive four building permits,” Winnipeg Tribune, 10 July 1929, page 3.

“Whereabouts of Irish and Forlong unknown,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 February 1930, page 17.

“W. A. Irish, contractor, dies aged 69,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 November 1941, page 6.

“W. A. Irish leaves $229,101 estate,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 January 1942, page 2.

Death registration [James Eno Pompilio], British Columbia Vital Statistics.

Obituary [Mary Edith Irish], Winnipeg Free Press, 10 April 1980, page 49.

John Hamilton Parkhill, 182 Spence Street by Murray Peterson, Peterson Projects, February 2009.

Obituary [William C. Irish], Winnipeg Free Press, 30 April 2015.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 March 2023

Memorable Manitobans This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations. Search the collection by word or phrase, name, place, occupation or other text: Custom Search Browse surnames beginning with: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z Browse deaths occurring in: 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Send corrections and additions to this page to the Memorable Manitobans Administrator at biographies@mhs.mb.ca Criteria for Memorable Manitobans | Suggest a Memorable Manitoban | Firsts | Acknowledgements Help us keep history alive!