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IT MAY NOT date back an awful long time, but March has again been declared Irish-American Heritage Month in the States, with US President Donald Trump making the announcement earlier this week.
Ahead of the Heritage Month, the US Census Bureau published a statistical breakdown of some of the lesser-known facts about the Irish in America.
Alongside the number of people claiming Irish heritage, 32.7 million or 10.2%, there was a plethora of stats that tell the story of the Irish in America today.
Here are some of the best:
Dublins
There are 15 places or county subdivisions in the US that share a name with our capital.
The most populous town, with 57,721 people, is found in Dublin, California. We reckon the weather there is a lot better than Dublin, Ireland.
In Dublin, Pennsylvania, on the other hand, has a population of only 2,120 but almost a quarter of people there (474) claim to have Irish ancestry.
Academic achievement
According to a 2015 survey, the percentage of people with Irish ancestry over the age of 25 who had a bachelor’s degree or higher was 36.2%. This was significantly higher than the national average of 30.6%.
Similarly, 94.1% of people reporting Irish ancestry had a high-school diploma, compared to 87.1% in the general population.
Average incomes
When American households are headed by an Irish-American, its overall income is also higher than average.
Where the average household pulls in €55,775 per year, Irish-American ones earn €64,322.
Foreign-born
In 2015, there were 241,481 non US-born people in America with Irish ancestry.
Of these, 143,972 had become naturalised citizens.
Furthermore, 120,144 foreign-born people in 2015 reported Ireland as their birthplace.
Gaeilgeoirí
There an estimated 20,590 people in the US that speak Gaelic.
With the exception of 2,500 of them, most said they could speak English “very well”.
Imports
The value of imports from Ireland to the US is valued at around €39 billion.
Of these, however, €25 billion fell in the category of pharmaceuticals and medicines.
Place names
Dublin aside, there’s plenty of place names across the US with an Irish feel to them.
Emerald Isle, North Carolina, is an obvious candidate with a population of 3,720.
There’s also an Irishtown, Illinois, and several Shamrocks with one in Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska.
In terms of actual place names – Cork, Belfast, Galway etc. – there’s a plethora of them.
How many were sent there by the nuns
I would guess the vast majority claiming Irish heritage would be “famine” Irish descendents. Those families are big into Erin go Bra and “top of the morning to ya” references. And of course The Quiet Man image of Ireland. Now, because of forces like U2, the web, and newer films about Irish life, the diddle diddle factor is being updated. Kind of a fresh look at I.
…look at Irishness
Please make a negative article about ireland before the people have a vemotional meltdown
All I want to know is this……. IS that moustache real????
One of the Dublins has nothing to do with Ireland and was named because of two Inns in the town as in Double Inn.
Irish people living abroad have much more pride, respect and appreciation for their language, culture and history.
Irish Americans have more pride than we do.
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