Community Corner

Cheers to the Irish

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here are a few Irish stats from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Whether we are Irish or not, St. Patrick's Day gives all of us a good reason to wear green, raise a pint, and celebrate.

In honor of the festivities, here are some St. Paddy's Day fun facts, courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau.

On the holiday's origin: 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.

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On the first St. Patrick's Day parade: 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.

36.9 million:
Number of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2009. This number was more than eight times the population of Ireland itself (4.5 million). Irish was the nation's second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.

122,000:
Number of Irish-born U.S. residents in 2009. Those from Ireland are much older (a median of 60 years old) and have a higher median household income ($56,158) than U.S. residents as a whole (37 years and $50,221, respectively).

24 percent:
Percent of Massachusetts residents who were of Irish ancestry in 2009. This
compares with a rate of 12 percent for the nation as a whole.

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4:
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 2,623 and 1,828 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes,
Ind., had 152 residents and Shamrock, Okla., 122.

9:
Number of places in the United States that share the name of Ireland's capital, Dublin. Since the 2000 Census, Dublin, Calif., has surpassed Dublin, Ohio, as the most populous of these places (44,541 compared with 39,310, respectively, as of July 1, 2009).

Other Irish sounding towns:
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 3,695 residents. 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.

26.1 billion and 2.3 billion:
U.S. beef and cabbage production, respectively, in pounds, in 2009. Corned
beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick's Day dish.

$25 million:
Value of potted florist chrysanthemum sales at wholesale in 2009 for operations with $100,000 or more sales. Lime green chrysanthemums are often requested for St. Patrick's Day celebrations.


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