George Fran?ois Mugnier New Orleans, c. 1895 Most Irish immigrants who arrived at the port of New Orleans stayed in the
city, primarily because they could not afford passage farther inland. Crowding into the city's riverfront neighborhoods, they
strained its limited housing, employment, and education. Forced to compete with slaves and free blacks at the bottom of the
economy, many New Orleans Irish took low-paying, often dangerous manual jobs, such as digging canals and ditches, building
roads, levees, and railroads, and laboring on the docks and in the warehouses. The mortality rate was especially high among
canal diggers, who were highly susceptible to yellow fever, malaria, and cholera. Source: http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/cabildo/cab8.htm
