A young actor plays a famine refugee in Ireland in the docudrama Death or Canada, which airs Monday on History Television. (Canadian Press)

A sombre docudrama about Canada's role in helping the victims of Ireland's potato famine airs on History Television on Monday, the eve of St. Patrick's Day.

Shot in Ontario and Ireland, and narrated by actor Brian Dennehy, Death or Canada tells the story of how, in the summer of 1847, the British colony of Canada gave refuge to 38,000 Irish famine victims.

A Canada-Ireland co-production directed by Ruan Magan, the film is a testament to the history of Canada's open-door immigration policy, said Toronto historian Mark McGowan, author of the book Death or Canada: The Irish Famine Migration to Toronto 1847 on which the film is based.

He told the Canadian Press that, for most Canadians, the Irish potato famine is a period quite remote; for some, it is completely unknown.

Interspersed with comments from historians, the film follows the true life story of John and Mary Willis and their five children who left their home in the west of Ireland and travelled to Canada on a "coffin ship." En route, they lost four of their children to typhus.

The fledgling colony of British North America couldn't deal with the massive influx of people. In Toronto alone, the city's population doubled, and fever sheds and a hospital were set up at the waterfront to deal with the sick and starving refugees. By the fall, more than 1,000 had died, including some Torontonians.

Death or Canada was broadcast in Ireland on RTE Television last fall.

With files from the Canadian Press