Irish American Heritage Month & St. Patrick's Day Facts

Enjoy some facts from the U.S. Census Bureau about Irish-American Heritage Month (March) and St. Patrick's Day (March 17, 2009).

Originally a religious holiday to honor St. Patrick, who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into a celebration for all things Irish. The world’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade occurred on March 17, 1762, in New York City, featuring Irish soldiers serving in the English military. President Truman attended the parade in 1948. Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1995, and the president issues a proclamation each year.

36.5 million - The number of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2007. This number was more than eight times the population of Ireland itself (more than 4 million). Irish was the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.
Sources: 2007 American Community Survey and Ireland Central Statistical Office

$56,966 - The median income for households headed by an Irish-American, higher than the $50,740 for all households. In addition, 8 percent of people of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 13 percent for all Americans.
Source: 2007 American Community Survey

39% - The percentage of employed civilian Irish-Americans 16 or older who worked in management, professional and related occupations. Additionally, 27 percent worked in sales and office occupations; 15 percent in service occupations; 10 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations; and 9 percent in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations.
Source: 2007 American Community Survey

72% - Percentage of householders of Irish ancestry who owned the home in which they live, with the remainder renting. For the nation as a whole, the homeownership rate was 67 percent.
Source: 2007 American Community Survey

$26.2 billion - The value of U.S. imports from Ireland for January to October 2008. Meanwhile, the United States exported $7.4 billion worth of goods to Ireland.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics

Four - The number of places in the United States named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland. Mount Gay-Shamrock, W.Va., and Shamrock, Texas, were the most populous, with 2,623 and 1,830 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind., had 154 residents and Shamrock, Okla., 123.
Sources: American FactFinder and population estimates

Nine - The number of places in the United States that share the name of Ireland’s capital, Dublin. Since Census 2000, Dublin, Calif., has surpassed Dublin, Ohio, as the most populous of these places (43,960 compared with 37,954, respectively, as of July 1, 2007).

If you’re still not into the spirit of St. Paddy’s Day, then you might consider paying a visit to
Emerald Isle, N.C., with 3,651 residents. Other appropriate places in which to spend the day: the
township of Irishtown, Ill., several places or townships named “Clover” (in South Carolina,
Illinois, Minnesota and Pennsylvania) and the township of Cloverleaf, Minn.
Sources: American FactFinder and population estimates

41.5 billion and 2.6 billion - The U.S. beef and cabbage production, respectively, in pounds, in 2007. Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick’s Day dish. The corned beef that celebrants dine on may very well have originated in Texas, which produced 6.8 billion pounds worth of beef, while the cabbage most likely came from California, which produced 581 million pounds, or New York, which produced 580 million pounds.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service