March is Irish-American History Month. St. Patrick’s day (March 17) means a lot more than green beer and pinching those who forget to wear green. 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 Harry S. Truman attended the parade in 1948, a proud moment for the many Irish whose ancestors had to fight stereotypes and prejudice to find acceptance in America. Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1995, and the president issues a proclamation each year.
Here are some facts about the United States’ Irish-American population excerpted from the U.S. Census Bureau:
- Thirty-six million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (slightly more than 4 million). Irish is the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.
- Thirty-one percent of people of Irish ancestry 25 or older have a bachelor’s degree or more education. In addition, 91 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 27 percent and 84 percent.
- Thirty-eight percent of employed civilian Irish-Americans 16 or older work in management, professional, and related occupations. Additionally, 28 percent work 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.
- The U.S. imported $22.9 billion worth of goods from Ireland from January to September 2007. Meanwhile, the United States exported $6.6 billion worth of goods to Ireland.