By the Numbers: Irish in America

In addition to St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, the entire month is dedicated to Irish-Americans. Here are a few numbers regarding that segment of the population.

7

Number of places named Shamrock in the U.S.

16

Number of places in the U.S. that share the name of Ireland’s capital, Dublin.

12.9

The percentage of New York’s population that claims Irish ancestry.

20.4

Percentage of Boston’s population that claims Irish ancestry. That makes it the most concentrated Irish-American population in the country.

23.99

The cost of a “Kiss Me I’m Irish” t-shirt on cafepress.com.

45

The number of pounds of vegetable dye it takes to turn the Chicago River green on St. Patrick’s Day.

820

The number of calories in a 22-ounce McDonald’s Shamrock Shake, which is the equivalent of eating 1.5 Big Macs or nearly three Egg McMuffins.

1762

The year of the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City.

1847

The first big year of the Irish potato famine. More than 37,000 natives of Ireland arrived in the United States that year.

1892

The year the Ellis Island immigrant reception center opened. Annie Moore, a 15-year-old from County Cork, was the first person processed.

3,665

The number of people who live in Emerald Isle, N.C.

1.23 million

The market value of a leprechaun’s pot of gold containing 1,000 1-ounce pieces of gold.

6.3 million

The population of Ireland.

13 million

The number of pints of Guinness expected to be drunk on St. Patrick’s Day; 5.5 million pints is the amount consumed on an average day.

39.6 million

The number of Americans who claim Irish heritage. That includes five million who claim Scots-Irish heritage. After German, Irish is the most common ancestry in America.

4.6 billion

The number of dollars expected to be spent on St. Patrick’s Day in America.

Source: U.S. Census, Irishcentral.com, USDA, irish-genealogy-toolkit.com; Northumbria University