Irish Catholics and the Marguillier Controversies of New Orleans, 1805–1844

This article seeks to provide a detailed examination of the role played by Irish Catholics in the marguillier (trustee) controversies that transformed the antebellum Church in New Orleans. This case study demonstrates the deep impact Irish clergy and laity members had on the development of the Church there. Irish Catholics were a minority in colonial New Orleans; however, their rapid increase in numbers following the 1830s made them more conspicuous. By the 1840s, Irish resentment against the domineering influence of Creole Catholics resulted in the Irish community becoming the standard-bearer of Episcopal authority in New Orleans. Nevertheless, the Irish failed to wrestle control of the Church from New Orleans’s established Creole Catholics. This study reveals that some of the sternest opponents faced by Irish Catholics in antebellum New Orleans were their fellow co-religionists, who had a conflicting vision for the Church.