When you think of the immigrant communities who helped shape the culture of New Orleans, do you think of the Irish? If not, maybe you should.
Laura Kelley is a Tulane professor and author of “The Irish in New Orleans,” a book chronicling the history of St. Patrick’s Day and the Irish community in our area. She says the earliest days of the Crescent City were shaped by newcomers from the Emerald Isle.
“The Irish have been here since the very beginning. They came over here in the earlier French Colonial period (frequently with the French military) and, of course, they’ve been here ever since,” Kelley notes.
New Orleans is, of course, a port city and immigrants came from all over the world to secure work. However, it wasn’t a direct journey to the docks of New Orleans for Irish immigrants according to Kelley.
“The Irish that first came here actually came from France and Spain. They did not come directly from Ireland. They left Ireland because of the severity of these laws that were against you if you were Irish Catholic living in Ireland. Those laws denied you the right to own land, the right to vote, the right to educate your children or practice your religion,” she went on to add.
Since French and Spanish flags once flew in Louisiana, many of the Irish who ended up in those neighboring countries to flee persecution came here in that roundabout way.
The Irish were part of a flood of foreign workers and were drawn to the Crescent City not only because of available jobs, but because of the deeply rooted Catholic culture here. “It was a diverse group. I think we have an image in our heads of that they were all laborers or ditch diggers. But, in fact, over half of them were doctors, clerks, teachers, and all kinds of other professions,” emphasizes Kelley.
Religious freedom may have played just as large a role as available work when it comes to drawing the Irish to the area. “New Orleans is a Catholic city, so at a time when there was extreme prejudice against Catholic immigrants in other parts of the United States, that’s not something they faced here. They were able to build churches and communities here,” Kelley adds.
New Orleans is a well-known blend of cultures. This St. Patrick’s Day, try to remember the large hand our Irish friends had in shaping the Crescent City into what it is today.
