Newsroom Archive

Irish-American Heritage Month (March)
and St. Patrick's Day (March 17): 2011

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. This parade became an annual event, with President Truman attending in 1948. Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1995, and the President issues a proclamation commemorating the occasion each year.

Population Distribution

36.9 million

Number of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2009. This number was more than eight times the population of Ireland itself (4.5 million). Irish was the nation's second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.
Sources: 2009 American Community Survey <http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=datasets_2&_lang=en> and Ireland Central Statistics Office <http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/population/current/popmig.pdf>

122,000

Number of Irish-born U.S. residents in 2009. Those from Ireland are much older (a median of 60 years old) and have a higher median household income ($56,158) than U.S. residents as a whole (37 years and $50,221, respectively).
Source: 2009 American Community Survey
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts=>

24%

Percent of Massachusetts residents who were of Irish ancestry in 2009. This compares with a rate of 12 percent for the nation as a whole.
Source: 2009 American Community Survey
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts=>

Irish-Americans Today

32%

Percentage of people of Irish ancestry, 25 or older, who had a bachelor's degree or higher. In addition, 92 percent of Irish-Americans in this age group had at least a high school diploma. For the nation as a whole, the corresponding rates were 28 percent and 85 percent respectively.
Source: 2009 American Community Survey
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts=>

$56,383

Median income for households headed by an Irish-American, higher than the $50,221 for all households. In addition, 10 percent of people of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 14 percent for all Americans.
Source: 2009 American Community Survey
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts=>

40%

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; 16 percent in service occupations; 9 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations; and 8 percent in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations.
Source: 2009 American Community Survey
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts=>

70%

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 66 percent.
Source: 2009 American Community Survey
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts=>

Places to Spend the Day

4

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 1,828 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind., had 152 residents and Shamrock, Okla., 122. (Statistic for Mount Gay-Shamrock is from the 2000 Census; the other statistics are 2009 estimates.)
Sources: American FactFinder and population estimates
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=PEP&_submenuId=datasets_3&_lang=en>

9

Number of places in the United States that share the name of Ireland's capital, Dublin. Since the 2000 Census, Dublin, Calif., has surpassed Dublin, Ohio, as the most populous of these places (44,541 compared with 39,310, respectively, as of July 1, 2009).

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 3,695 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, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) and the township of Cloverleaf, Minn. Sources: American FactFinder and population estimates
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=PEP&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts=>

The Celebration

26.1 billion and 2.3 billion

U.S. beef and cabbage production, respectively, in pounds, in 2009. Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick's Day dish.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
<http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/LiveSlauSu/LiveSlauSu-04-29-2010.pdf> and
<http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/VegeSumm/VegeSumm-01-27-2010.pdf>

$25 million

Value of potted florist chrysanthemum sales at wholesale in 2009 for operations with $100,000 or more sales. Lime green chrysanthemums are often requested for St. Patrick's Day celebrations.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
<http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1072>

Editor’s note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau’s Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; fax: 301-763-3762; or e-mail: <PIO@census.gov>.