Plenty of Irish came to New Orleans If they arrived before the potato famine they are considered Old Irish. Most of these were Protestants from Northern Ireland, Scots-Irish, and generally indistinguishable from Anglo-Americans descended from the English.

The Irish Channel (formerly the Lafayette area) came into being in the 1830's. Thousands living there died from mosquito borne diseases while working on construction of the New Basin Canal between 1831 and 1838.

After 1846 with the potato famine raging in Ireland more of the so called "New Irish" arrived in America destitute, diseased and in large enough numbers to create resentment in cities across America. New Orleans received tens of thousands of the estimated one million who came to America.

By 1860 the 24,000 Irish living in New Orleans was the largest population of immigrants from any one country.