Saint Patrick’s Day is approaching fast. On Sunday, we’ll be
wearing green and maybe tipping a glass or two in celebration.
Originally a religious holiday to honor Saint Patrick, who
introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, Saint Patrick's Day
has evolved into a celebration for all things Irish.
The world's first Saint 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.
Here are facts and figures from the U.S. Census Bureau on the
Irish in America:
34.5 million
Number of U.S. residents who claimed
Irish ancestry in 2011. This number was more than seven times the population of
Ireland itself, 4.68 million. Irish was the nation's second most frequently
reported ancestry, trailing only German.
150,990
Number of Irish-born naturalized U.S.
residents in 2011.
39.3 years old
Median age of U.S. residents who claim
Irish ancestry is higher than the U.S. residents’ median age, 37.3 years.
12.9%
Percent of New York state residents who
were of Irish ancestry in 2011. This compares with a rate of 11.1 percent for
the nation as a whole.
33.3%
Percentage of people of Irish ancestry,
25 or older, who had a bachelor's degree or higher. In addition, 92.9 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 28.5 percent and 85.9 percent,
respectively.
$57,319
Median income for households headed by
an Irish-American, higher than the $50,502 for all households. In addition, 7.3
percent of families of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of
11.7 percent for all Americans families.
41%
Percentage of employed civilian
Irish-Americans 16 or older who worked in management, professional, and related
occupations. In addition, 25.9 percent worked in sales and office occupations;
16.0 percent in service occupations; 9.3 percent in production, transportation
and material moving occupations; and 7.8 percent in construction, extraction,
maintenance and repair occupations.
69.3%
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 64.6 percent.
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 1,585 and 1,929 residents,
respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind., had 228 residents and Shamrock, Okla., 101.
Three Shamrock Townships in Minnesota, Nebraska and Missouri had populations of
1,273, 301 and 40, respectively.
13
Number of places in the U.S. that share
the name of Ireland's capital, Dublin. The most populous of these places is
Dublin, Calif., with a population of 43,572.
Other places 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.
Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
