I know what you’re probably thinking right now: “ummm St. Patrick’s Day already passed, you’re kinda late with this article.”
I know, I know. But since St. Patrick’s day just passed and since I am leaving in a few days for a trip to Ireland, I have been thinking a ton about the Irish and how their history connects to New Orleans. So let’s get started!
Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, the British government ruled Ireland as a harsh territory where the Irish were not allowed to vote or own land. The Church of England even placed some serious restrictions on the Catholic Church in Ireland. Many Irishmen did not want to stand for this, so they sought out a new life in other cities in Europe. Also, many Irishmen fled their homeland when the 1820s famine got too hard to bear.
Many young Irishmen went to join the British army, but the ones who wanted nothing to do with England started a journey toward Spain. Here they could join the Spanish against the British. Many of these men rose to positions of authority in the Spanish army and government. Alexander (Alejenadro) O’Reilly was one of those men. After taking a position of authority, he headed toward Havana, Cuba and eventually became the first Irishman to hold a government position in New Orleans.
The British eventually made a complete chaos out of governing Ireland by the time New Orleans was sold to the United States. The Irish and British merchants and shippers discovered they had a shared interest in doing business with the United States. The merchants would load their ships with raw materials like cotton, indigo, tobacco, and other goods. They would unload them in Liverpool and other ports, and return across the Atlantic for more goods. However, the empty ships didn’t sail well, so the captains would load them with ballast – in the form of Irishmen. The conditions were far from ideal, but it was cheap travel for the Irish. They would stop in the northern US cities of Boston, New York, and Baltimore first to unload their passengers, then head down to the south. Some Liverpool captains would simply go straight to New Orleans and lied to the Irish by telling them they wouldn’t be far from family in New York. It didn’t take long before the Irish had family in New Orleans and they began requesting New Orleans as a destination.
The Irish had a hard time finding work in the south US. They were very poor and living in slums. Their only option, really, was the dangerous and unhealthy jobs that slaves weren’t even risked to do. The Irish were willing to take on the dangerous project of constructing the New Basin Canal. Constructing this canal meant draining and clearing miles of swampland before digging the canal. Thousands of men died from yellow fever during the process. Once the canal was finished in 1838, the Irish were then considered established as part of New Orleans. Those who survived settled in a variety of different locations including Magazine Street, Kenner, Destrehan, or in what is now called the Irish Channel. As established New Orleanians, the Irish decided to build the St. Patrick’s Church in 1840 and by 1850, they built St. Alphonsus. To their relief, these churches allowed them to go to mass without the French or Germans.
Since the 19th century, the Irish have melted in the melting pot of New Orleans with the rest of us. Today, New Orleans recognizes and celebrates the Irish influence in New Orleans through several St. Patrick’s day parades and classic Irish pubs and restaurants. Because that’s what New Orleans is all about: respecting and celebrating diversity and various cultures. That’s just what we do.
