East of Merrickville, Ontario, The McGuican Cemetery Rememberance Plaque rests on a cairn in McGuigan Cemetery about 100 metres east of Burritts Rapids Road about a kilometre northeast of County Road 43.
IN REMEMBRANCE
This memorial marks the area where an unknown number of persons were buried in this cemetery between the years 1800 and 1900. Despite the scarcity of records, it is believed that many died of pestilence, principally malaria, during the construction of the Rideau Canal from 1826 to 1832. They were mostly Irish labourers and the children of pioneer settlers. Their graves were marked only by simple fieldstones, some of which still remain visible.
MAY THEY REST IN PEACE.
