Flatrock, Newfoundland and Labrador

Flatrock

Irish: Carraig Árasán
Welsh: Carreg Wastad
Norwegian: Flate steiner
Flatrock Irish: Carraig Árasán; Welsh: Carreg Wastad; Norwegian: Flate steiner;
Town
	View from town wharf
	Seal
	Flatrock Location of Flatrock in Newfoundland
	Coordinates: 47°42′31″N 52°42′52″W / 47.7086°N 52.7144°W
Country	Canada
Province	Newfoundland and Labrador
Census division	1
Settled	1762
Government
• Mayor	Darrin Thorne
Population (2021)
• Total	1,722
Time zone	UTC-3:30 (Newfoundland Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-2:30 (Newfoundland Daylight)
Area code	709
Highways	Route 20
Website	https://townofflatrock.com/

Flatrock is a town in Newfoundland and Labrador. The town had a population of 1,722 in the Canada 2021 Census.

Most of the people in Flatrock are of Irish descent. There are some families who are descended from the few Norwegian settlers who came to Flatrock in the 19th century. Irish heritage is still strong today and can be seen in such things as religion, folkways, music, and dialect/accent.

Religion and history

Flatrock is a Roman Catholic fishing town. The first settlers were Roman Catholic Irish fishermen and also Roman Catholics of French descent. About 95 per cent is Roman Catholic, 2.0% is Anglican Church of Canada, 1% United Church of Canada, or Methodist who attend the United Church in Pouch Cove, and 1% Presbyterian who attend St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (The Kirk) in St. John's. The population of Protestants in Flatrock are from other communities in Newfoundland, having moved in from recent economic development. There is no evidence of any Protestant family settling in Flatrock other than Norwegian and some English families, who, as evidenced in the town's local history, soon converted to Catholicism. There is only one church, St Michael's Roman Catholic Church. This church as well as St Agnes' Roman Catholic Church in the neighbouring community of Pouch Cove, share the same parish. The Church currently shares a parish priest with Holy Trinity in Torbay, and St. Agnes' in Pouch Cove. There is no Presbytery in Flatrock. However, they do exist in neighboring communities Torbay, Pouch Cove, and Portugal Cove.

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto is a religious shrine located outside of the parish church in Flatrock, founded in 1954 by Fr. William Sullivan after his return to the parish from Lourdes, France. Fr. Sullivan saw many similarities in the terrain in Lourdes to that of his church in Flatrock, and saw that it would be a great opportunity to take advantage of this land.^[1] It is to date the largest religious grotto east of Montreal and has been visited by Pope John Paul II on September 12, 1984, where it received a special blessing from him.^[2]

The grotto has been designed by Michael Curtis of the nearby city of St. John's. Since its inception, a number of additional monuments have been erected including: a lifesize statue of the crucifix, a statue of St. Michael, a statue of the Blessed Mother that is placed in the cave portion, a statue of St. Bernadette and it contains the fourteen Stations of the Cross which are frequently venerated by parishioners. As well, there as a number of memorial plaques placed throughout the grotto.

The Our Lady of Loudes Grotto has also been voted the "Most Psychedelic Spot" by the St. John's bi-weekly publication The Scope in 2007.^[3]

Confederation

As an Irish settlement, during the confederation debate of 1949, Flatrock had voted against confederation. To this day, Flatrock as an Irish settlement flies the Union Jack, the Irish Flag, and the traditional pink white and green flag of Newfoundland - as well as the American flag. A number of townsfolk would move to New England States and New York before Newfoundland joined Confederation to live with relatives. Some townsfolk had U.S. military service before confederation with Canada. Beárna na Gaoithe (Wind Gap) Road the main road going through the town is known to come from settlers that came from WindGap areas of County Waterford and County Kilkenny in Ireland. (citation: NL Archives:The Rooms)

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Flatrock had a population of 1,722 living in 638 of its 675 total private dwellings, a change of 2.3% from its 2016 population of 1,683. With a land area of 18.1 km² (7.0 sq mi), it had a population density of 95.1/km² (246.4/sq mi) in 2021.^[4]

References

^ "The Grotto - Town of Flatrock". Archived from the original on 2008-07-27. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
^ Religious Shrine Our Lady Of Lourdes - Canada Photos.com
^ The Scope
^ "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Newfoundland and Labrador". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.

External links

Media related to Flatrock, Newfoundland and Labrador at Wikimedia Commons
Flatrock - Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 2, p. 209-212.

[1] "The Grotto - Town of Flatrock". Archived from the original on 2008-07-27. Retrieved 2009-06-07.

[2] Religious Shrine Our Lady Of Lourdes - Canada Photos.com

[3] The Scope

[2021census-4] "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Newfoundland and Labrador". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Municipalities of St. John's metropolitan area
Population over 100,000	St. John's
Population over 20,000	Conception Bay South Mount Pearl Paradise
Population under 20,000	Portugal Cove–St. Philip's Torbay Logy Bay–Middle Cove–Outer Cove Pouch Cove Flatrock Bay Bulls Witless Bay Petty Harbour–Maddox Cove Bauline
Category

v t e Division No. 1, Newfoundland and Labrador (Avalon Peninsula)
Cities	Mount Pearl St. John's
Towns	Admirals Beach Aquaforte Arnold's Cove Avondale Bauline Bay Bulls Bay de Verde Bay Roberts Bishop's Cove Branch Brigus Brigus South Bryant's Cove Cape Broyle Carbonear Chance Cove Chapel Arm Clarke's Beach Colinet Colliers Come By Chance Conception Bay South Conception Harbour Cupids Fermeuse Ferryland Flatrock Fox Harbour Gaskiers–Point La Haye Hant's Harbour Harbour Grace Harbour Main–Chapel's Cove–Lakeview Heart's Content Heart's Delight–Islington Heart's Desire Holyrood Logy Bay–Middle Cove–Outer Cove Long Harbour–Mount Arlington Heights Mount Carmel–Mitchells Brook–St. Catherines New Perlican Norman's Cove–Long Cove North River Old Perlican Paradise Petty Harbour–Maddox Cove Placentia Point Lance Port Kirwan Portugal Cove–St. Philip's Portugal Cove South Pouch Cove Renews–Cappahayden Riverhead St. Bride's St. Joseph's St. Mary's St. Shott's St. Vincent's–St. Stephen's–Peter's River Salmon Cove Small Point–Adam's Cove–Blackhead–Broad Cove South River Southern Harbour Spaniard's Bay Sunnyside Torbay Trepassey Upper Island Cove Victoria Wabana Whitbourne Whiteway Winterton Witless Bay
Unorganized subdivisions	Subdivision A Subdivision B Subdivision C Subdivision D Subdivision E Subdivision F Subdivision G Subdivision H Subdivision I Subdivision J Subdivision K Subdivision L Subdivision M Subdivision N Subdivision O Subdivision R Subdivision U Subdivision V Subdivision W Subdivision X Subdivision Y
Designated places	Bellevue Bellevue Beach Blaketown Brigus Junction Brigus South Burnt Cove, St. Michael's, Bauline South Burnt Point-Gull Island-Northern Bay Calvert Cavendish Dildo Fairhaven Forest Field-New Bridge Freshwater, Conception Bay Georgetown Goulds Grates Cove Green's Harbour Hopeall Lance Cove, Bell Island Little Harbour (East), Placentia Bay Makinsons Markland Marysvale Mobile New Chelsea-New Melbourne-Brownsdale-Sibley's Cove-Lead Cove New Harbour, Trinity Bay North Harbour, St. Mary's Bay O'Donnells Old Shop Patrick's Cove-Angels Cove Roaches Line South Dildo Thornlea Tors Cove
Unincorporated communities	Admiral's Cove Arnold's Cove Station Baccalieu Island Bareneed Black Duck Pond Blow Me Down Bradley's Cove Bristol's Hope Caplin Cove Cuslett Daniel's Cove The Dock Flatrock Goobies Gooseberry Cove Gould's Road Great Barasway Gull Island Hibb's Cove Iona Job's Cove Kingston Little Barasway Little Placentia Sound Lower Island Cove Low Point Mahers Northern Bay Ochre Pit Cove Perry's Cove Point Verde Port de Grave Rantem Red Head Cove Rose au Rue St. Michaels Ship Harbour Swells Cove Trinny Cove Turks Cove Western Bay
See also: Municipalities of St. John's Metropolitan Area Census divisions of Newfoundland and Labrador

v t e Subdivisions of Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland Labrador Nunatsiavut Other islands
Subdivisions and statistical units	Regions Census divisions Census agglomerations Municipalities Population centres
Communities	Cities Towns Inuit community governments Indian reserves Local service districts Designated places Ghost towns
Cities	Corner Brook Mount Pearl St. John's
Towns	Admirals Beach Anchor Point Appleton Aquaforte Arnold's Cove Avondale Badger Baie Verte Baine Harbour Bauline Bay Bulls Bay de Verde Bay L'Argent Bay Roberts Baytona Beachside Bellburns Belleoram Birchy Bay Bird Cove Bishop's Cove Bishop's Falls Bonavista Botwood Branch Brent's Cove Brighton Brigus Bryant's Cove Buchans Burgeo Burin Burlington Burnt Islands Campbellton Cape Broyle Cape St. George Carbonear Carmanville Cartwright Centreville-Wareham-Trinity Chance Cove Change Islands Channel-Port aux Basques Chapel Arm Charlottetown Clarenville Clarke's Beach Coachman's Cove Colinet Colliers Come By Chance Comfort Cove-Newstead Conception Bay South Conception Harbour Conche Cook's Harbour Cormack Cottlesville Cow Head Cox's Cove Crow Head Cupids Daniel's Harbour Deer Lake Dover Duntara Eastport Elliston Embree Englee English Harbour East Fermeuse Ferryland Flatrock Fleur de Lys Flower's Cove Fogo Island Forteau Fortune Fox Cove-Mortier Fox Harbour Frenchman's Cove Gallants Gambo Gander Garnish Gaskiers-Point La Haye Gaultois Gillams Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook Glenwood Glovertown Goose Cove East Grand Bank Grand Falls-Windsor Grand le Pierre Greenspond Hampden Hant's Harbour Happy Adventure Happy Valley-Goose Bay Harbour Breton Harbour Grace Harbour Main-Chapel's Cove-Lakeview Hare Bay Hawke's Bay Heart's Content Heart's Delight-Islington Heart's Desire Hermitage-Sandyville Holyrood Howley Hughes Brook Humber Arm South Indian Bay Irishtown-Summerside Isle aux Morts Jackson's Arm Keels King's Cove King's Point Kippens Labrador City Lamaline L'Anse-au-Clair L'Anse-au-Loup Lark Harbour LaScie Lawn Leading Tickles Lewin's Cove Lewisporte Little Bay East Little Bay Islands Little Bay Little Burnt Bay Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights Lord's Cove Lourdes Lumsden Lushes Bight-Beaumont-Beaumont North Main Brook Mary's Harbour Marystown Massey Drive McIvers Meadows Middle Arm Miles Cove Millertown Milltown-Head of Bay d'Espoir Ming's Bight Morrisville Mount Carmel-Mitchells Brook-St. Catherines Mount Moriah Musgrave Harbour Musgravetown New Perlican New-Wes-Valley Nipper's Harbour Norman's Cove-Long Cove Norris Arm Norris Point North River North West River Northern Arm Old Perlican Pacquet Paradise Parkers Cove Parson's Pond Pasadena Peterview Petty Harbour–Maddox Cove Pilley's Island Pinware Placentia Point au Gaul Point Lance Point Leamington Point May Point of Bay Pool's Cove Port Anson Port au Choix Port au Port East Port au Port West-Aguathuna-Felix Cove Port Blandford Port Hope Simpson Port Kirwan Port Rexton Port Saunders Portugal Cove South Portugal Cove–St. Philip's Pouch Cove Raleigh Ramea Red Bay Red Harbour Reidville Rencontre East Renews-Cappahayden River of Ponds Riverhead Roberts Arm Rocky Harbour Roddickton-Bide Arm Rose Blanche-Harbour le Cou Rushoon Sally's Cove Salmon Cove Salvage Sandringham Sandy Cove Seal Cove (Fortune Bay) Seal Cove (White Bay) Small Point-Adam's Cove-Blackhead-Broad Cove South Brook South River Southern Harbour Spaniard's Bay Springdale St. Alban's St. Anthony St. Bernard's-Jacques Fontaine St. Brendan's St. Bride's St. George's St. Jacques-Coomb's Cove St. Joseph's St. Lawrence St. Lewis St. Lunaire-Griquet St. Mary's St. Pauls St. Shott's St. Vincent's-St. Stephen's-Peter's River Steady Brook Stephenville Crossing Stephenville Summerford Sunnyside Terra Nova Terrenceville Tilt Cove Torbay Traytown Trepassey Trinity Bay North Trinity Triton Trout River Twillingate Upper Island Cove Victoria Wabana Wabush West St. Modeste Westport Whitbourne Whiteway Winterland Winterton Witless Bay Woodstock Woody Point York Harbour
Inuit community governments	Hopedale Makkovik Nain Postville Rigolet
Category:Newfoundland and Labrador Portal:Canada WikiProject:Newfoundland and Labrador