1800s
In 1805, several Irish natives were living on Fifth Street by the Ohio River, but due to exogamous marriages and removals to new residences this was the last concentration of the Scots-Irish/Ulster Scots in Louisville. Irish from beyond the borders of Ulster would not arrive in Louisville until after the War of 1812.
The new wave of Irish began in 1812 when James Anderson immigrated to Louisville,. He started a successful wholesale dry good store and also directed the Louisville branch of the Bank of the United States and joined the Louisville Commons Council. By 1825 many new Irish had come to Louisville, starting jobs such as candlemaking, groceries, and boardinghouses.
With all the Irish coming to Louisville, many of the jobs that would normally be served by chattel slaves were instead being performed by the Irish, causing a major decrease in the number of slaves in Louisville prior to 1860. However, the influx of Irish brought with it different tensions, as it increased the number of Catholics in the city. This culminated in 1855's Bloody Monday riots.
By the late 1860s, Irish residents of Portland moved to the Limerick district of Louisville, in order to be closer to their jobs with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. It would be the predominant Irish neighborhood in Louisville until 1905.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Irish In Louisville