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.