Photo: Contributed

The birthplace of Catherine Schubert is now Armstrong’s official sister community.

The Village of Rathfriland, County Down, Northern Ireland was selected because of the Schubert connection.

The village's history notes that Catherine O'Hare, mother of the first European child born west of the Canadian Rockies, was herself born in Rathfriland in 1835. She and her husband, Augustus Schubert, joined 200 over-landers who went west across Canada in search of gold, and blazed the trail for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Schubert is buried in Armstrong. 

This is the second go-round at the linkage. A heritage society in Northern Ireland contacted the Armstrong Spallumcheen Museum in the 1980s to talk about the sister city idea, but it was abandoned.

Last July, Andrew Peters, owner of a promotional company in Ireland, contacted the museum again to further explore the opportunity.

A six-member committee has been formed to look into ways the village of 2,700 and Armstrong can work together to promote tourism between the two. 

“It’s a natural connection” said Mayor Chris Pieper. 

Photo: Contributed