RMS Empress of Ireland Revisited: Aimie Néron, David Saint-Pierre and Hugh Verrier in conversation with Alexander Reford
Join us for an afternoon of discussion about the RMS Empress of Ireland with underwater archaeologist Aimie Néron, historian and author David Saint-Pierre (L’Empress of Ireland, une histoire par l’image / The Empress of Ireland: A Visual History, 2026; Dans le sillage de l’Empress of Ireland / In the Wake of the Empress of Ireland, 2023) and amateur Empress enthusiast Hugh Verrier, hosted by Alexander Reford.
The event will be held Friday, July 17, 2026, at Metis Beach School, 468 rue Beach, Métis-sur-Mer, from 4 – 6 p.m.
About the presenters:
Aimie Néron is an underwater archaeologist and commercial diver, vice-president and co-founder of IRHMAS (Institut de recherche en histoire maritime et archéologie subaquatique – Maritime History and Underwater Archaeology Research Institute). For over 18 years, she has been involved in various projects in the maritime context in Quebec and Canada with IRHMAS, as well as with various universities and Parks Canada.
Néron develops multidisciplinary projects integrating natural and cultural resources, including the use of new technologies to raise awareness among the scientific community, divers, and the public about the importance of maritime and underwater cultural heritage, its conservation, its enhancement, and the impact of climate change on these non-renewable resources. She also teaches professional diving courses at the Institut maritime du Québec.
David Saint-Pierre was born in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec and grew up in Rimouski, which helped shape his interest in maritime culture from a very young age. After obtaining his Master’s and Ph.D. in History, he became a lecturer in maritime history at the Université du Québec à Rimouski and has been collaborating for 30 years with maritime museums and cultural institutions dedicated to heritage and history.
For the past few years, Saint-Pierre has served on the Board of Directors of the Pointe-au-Père Maritime Historic Site, in Rimouski. He has also contributed over the years to numerous books, television and radio projects, and documentaries on maritime history in Quebec and abroad. He has been particularly interested in the history of steamship navigation on the St. Lawrence, ocean liners and the RMS Empress of Ireland. He has authored two books on the Empress of Ireland in French: L’Empress of Ireland, une histoire par l’image (The Empress of Ireland: A Visual History), published by Éditions GID in 2016 and Dans le sillage de l’Empress of Ireland (In the Wake of the Empress of Ireland), published in 2023. Most recently, the latter book was published in Great Britain in a revised and expanded edition as In the Wake of The Empress of Ireland, The History Press, 2025.
Hugh Verrier is an amateur Empress enthusiast. He lives in New York City but has always spent his summers in Metis with his family. Research he commissioned on one extraordinary Empress survival story led to a recent book by Eve Lazarus called Beneath Dark Waters. He’ll tell us about that book and the story behind it.
Alexander Reford is a historian by training, with degrees from the University of Toronto and Oxford University. Born in Ottawa, he grew up in the Outaouais region of Québec. In 1995, he took on the directorship of the Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens, created by his great-grandmother Elsie Reford. Under his stewardship, the gardens and historic buildings on the property were fully restored and opened to the public. He is the co-founder and director of the International Gardens Festival, held annually since 2000, president of Heritage Lower Saint Lawrence (among other organizations), and has written numerous books and articles on Quebec’s history and heritages.
A fundraiser event for Heritage Lower Saint Lawrence.
