MEDIA RELEASE

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

34.7 million
Number of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2010. This number was more than seven times the population of Ireland itself (4.58 million). Irish was the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.
Sources: 2010 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541
Ireland Central Statistics Office

Click to access Population%20and%20Migration%20Estimates%20April%202011.pdf

144,588
Number of Irish-born naturalized U.S. residents in 2010.
Source: 2010 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541

39.2 years old
Median age of those who claim Irish ancestry is higher than U.S. residents as a whole (37.2 years).
Source: 2010 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541

13%
Percent of New York state residents who were of Irish ancestry in 2010. This compares with a rate of 11.2 percent for the nation as a whole.
Source: 2010 American Community Survey http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/DP02/0400000US36
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/DP02

Irish-Americans Today

33%
Percentage of people of Irish ancestry, 25 or older, who had a bachelor’s degree or higher. In addition, 92.5 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 28.2 percent and 85.6 percent, respectively.
Source: 2010 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541

$56,363
Median income for households headed by an Irish-American, higher than the $50,046 for all households. In addition, 6.9 percent of households of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 11.3 percent for all Americans.
Source: 2010 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541

41%
Percentage of employed civilian Irish-Americans 16 or older who worked in management, professional and related occupations. Additionally, 26.3 percent worked in sales and office occupations; 15.7 percent in service occupations; 9.2 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations; and 7.8 percent in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations.
Source: 2010 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541

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 65.4 percent.
Source: 2010 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541

Places to Spend the Day

7
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 1,779 and 1,910 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind., had 231 residents and Shamrock, Okla., 101, and three Shamrock Townships in Minnesota, Nebraska and Missouri had populations of 1,272, 413 and 40, respectively.
Source: 2010 Demographic Profile
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0600000US2700159368|0600000US2902766962|0600000US3108944525|1600000US1868976|1600000US4066600|1600000US4867160|1600000US5456342

16
Number of places in the United States that share the name of Ireland’s capital, Dublin. The most populous of these places is Dublin, Calif., with a population of 46,036.
Source: 2010 Demographic Profile
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/1600000US0620018

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 3,655 residents.
Source: 2010 Demographic Profile
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/1600000US3721160

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.

The Celebration

26.4 billion and 2.3 billion
U.S. beef and cabbage production, respectively, in pounds, in 2010. Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick’s Day dish.
Sources: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service http://www.ers.usda.gov/news/BSECoverage.htm and http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1397

$24 million
Value of potted florist chrysanthemum sales at wholesale in 2010 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/usda/current/FlorCrop/FlorCrop-04-21-2011_revision.pdf