Irish In New Orleans

Catalog description

This course introduces students to an unfamiliar part of New Orleans’ history that is as defining to the city’s character as her more familiar Spanish and French past: Irish New Orleans. For many different reasons, Irish immigrants were drawn to Antebellum New Orleans, and they came to this city by the tens of thousands. Contrary to still prevailing prejudice, the newly arriving Irish immediately set about creating their own communities,several of which we will explore in this course.Strong familial ties denoted these neighborhoods as did their Catholic faith and the extraordinarily beautiful churches these immigrants built to serve their spiritual needs.Life was not easy in New Orleans: frequent epidemics killed people by the tens of thousands. However, the Irish immigrants successfully carved out lives for themselves that gave the city a permanent Irish flavor which, to this day, is still defined by Irish customs and traditions and inseparable from the colorful, multi-faceted spirit of New Orleans.