Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1991, and the President issues a proclamation commemorating the occasion each year.
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 of 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.
Where They Live
33.1 million, or 10.4%
Number and percentage of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2014. This number was more than seven times the population of Ireland itself (4.6 million). Irish was the nation’s second-most frequently reported European ancestry, trailing German.
Sources: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B04006
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21.5%
Percentage of Massachusetts residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2014. New Hampshire, at 20.9 percent, is the only other state in which more than 20 percent claimed Irish ancestry. (The rates for the two states were not statistically different from each other.) California had 2.5 million people claiming Irish ancestry, which was the highest of any state. Two other states — New York and Pennsylvania — also had more than 2 million Irish-Americans.
Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B04006
42.3%
Percentage of the population of Braintree, Mass., who were of Irish ancestry. Braintree is just one example of the many communities near Boston that are close to having a majority Irish population. Scituate, Hanover, Marshfield and Norwell are some others.
Source: 2010-2014 American Community Survey, Table DP02
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196,568
Number of Irish-Americans living in Chicago, the location of one of the nation’s most renowned St. Patrick’s Day traditions: dyeing the Chicago River green. Chicago’s Irish-American population was second among cities only to New York (363,045), home to the world’s oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day parade. Philadelphia was third at 176,568.
Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B04006
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40.1 years old
Median age of those who claimed Irish ancestry, which is higher than U.S. residents as a whole at 37.7 years.
Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table S0201
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Sports Celebration of Irish Heritage
101,190
Population of South Bend, Ind., home to the Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame. About 11.5 percent of South Bend’s population claimed Irish ancestry in 2014.
Source: 2014 Population Estimates and 2014 American Community Survey, Table DP02 Click here for table.
22.8%
Percentage of the Boston metropolitan area population that claimed Irish ancestry, the highest percentage among the 50 most populous metro areas. Boston is home to the Celtics of the National Basketball Association.
Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table DP02
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79,637 and 17,032
Population of New Rochelle, N.Y., and Moraga, Calif., home to the Gaels of Iona University and Saint Mary’s College of California, respectively. About 8.5 percent of the New Rochelle population and 12.7 percent of the Moraga population claimed Irish ancestry.
Sources: 2014 Population Estimates and 2010-2014 American Community Survey (Table DP02
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41.9%
Percentage of employed civilian Irish-Americans 16 or older who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations. Additionally, 25.5 percent worked in sales and office occupations; 15.6 percent in service occupations; 9.4 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations; and 7.6 percent in natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations.
Source: 2013 American Community Survey
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Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day
235,701 & 41,582
Number of full-service restaurants and drinking places (bars and taverns), respectively, in the U.S. in 2013. Many people will head to one or the other to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Source: 2013 County Business Patterns
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162
Number of synthetic dye and pigment manufacturing establishments around the U.S. in 2013. It is an annual tradition to dye the Chicago River green as part of the Windy City’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The dye used very well could have been produced by one of these establishments.
Source: 2013 County Business Patterns
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40.3 billion & 2.2 billion
U.S. beef and cabbage production, respectively, in pounds, in 2014. Corned beef and cabbage is a staple at St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statsitics Service
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Irish-Americans Today
35.6%
Percentage of people of Irish ancestry, 25 or older, who had a bachelor’s degree or higher. In addition, 93.7 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 30.1 percent and 86.9 percent, respectively.
Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table S0201
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$62,141
Median income for households headed by an Irish-American, higher than the median household income of $53,657 for all households. In addition, 7.0 percent of family households headed by a householder of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 11.3 percent for all Americans.
Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table S0201.
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42.6%
Percentage of employed civilian Irish-Americans 16 or older who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations. Additionally, 24.8 percent worked in sales and office occupations; 15.6 percent in service occupations; 9.5 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations; and 7.6 percent in natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations.
Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table S0201
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68.3%
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 63.1 percent.
Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table S0201
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243,135
Number of foreign-born U.S. residents with Irish ancestry in 2014. Of these, 143,256 had become naturalized citizens.
Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table S0201
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