The cultural connection between Ireland and New Orleans is nearly 300 years strong, with the first Irish records in the Archdiocese of New Orleans dating to the 1730’s. More Irish immigrated to the city when it was a Spanish colony, drawn by Louisiana’s Catholicism and anti-British policies.

1769

In 1769 General Alexander O’Reilly, an Irishman from County Meath, put down a
French-Creole rebellion against the first Spanish governor of the province.
Appointed as the second governor of Louisiana, O’Reilly established the Cabildo,
the governing body that replaced French with Castilian law.

Around the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 there were Irish engaged in
commerce and land speculation, many becoming so successful that by 1809 the
first large scale St. Patrick’s Day celebration was attended by Governor Claiborne
and other important political leaders.

A population boom in the 1830’s, when a second wave of Irish arrived in
Louisiana, made New Orleans the third largest city in the nation. In that era, the city had the second largest port of entry in the nation; only New York had a busier port.

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The Catholic church was an integral component of Irish life in New Orleans, but it
was not until St. Patrick’s was established in 1833 that there was an English
speaking parish. The Irish settled in different areas of the city: going upriver into
the American Sector; Back of Town, along the New Basin Canal; below Esplanade Avenue into the Poor Third; and into the suburb of Lafayette in an area that is still
known as the Irish Channel. The churches they built in these neighborhoods - St.
Patrick’s, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Joseph’s, St. John the Baptist, Sts. Peter and St.
Paul, St. Michael’s and St. Alphonsus - symbolized what the Irish could achieve in
their new home.

During the Irish Potato Famine of the mid-19 th century a tidal wave of Irish immigrants poured off vessels that crowded the port. Between 1846 and 1859, 425,000 Irish immigrants disembarked in New Orleans so that by 1860 one out of every five residents in New Orleans was Irish.

The Irish of New Orleans founded schools, orphanages and benevolent associations. A group of seven Dominican nuns from Ireland opened the St. John the Baptist School for girls in 1860 and the Sisters of Mercy, a congregation founded in Dublin, began educating students at St. Alphonsus School in 1869.

The first public monument in the nation honoring a woman stands near St. Theresa of Avila Church. Erected in 1884 the statue depicts Margaret Haughery, an Irish immigrant known for her generosity to the city’s orphans. Margaret never learned to read or write yet owned the first steam bakery in the south, which shipped bread, cookies, flour and crackers to other cities using a packaging method she invented.

The Irish have contributed significantly to the rich cultural history of the city,
fighting with Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans, providing a labor force
for public works and serving in the Confederacy. In New Orleans they battled
prejudice, poverty and yellow fever, which was known as the “Strangers Disease.”
They established the Hibernia Bank, ran the police and fire departments, and
entered politics. There have been three Irish mayors and other Irishmen controlled a lion’s share of power at the neighborhood level as ward tax assessors.

New Orleans wouldn’t be the same without its distinctive Irish history. The Irish added to the color, the lore, the strength and the beauty of the city, and their stories can still be heard of the streets of New Orleans today.