The Irish in America: St. Patrick’s Day

Two 10-year-old Irish girls ready for St. Patrick’s Day parade

To the nearly 35 million Americans who trace their ancestry to the Irish—incidentally, more than seven times the population of Ireland—there’s no day like St. Patrick’s Day. This occasion for festivities, which rivals any ethnic-heritage celebration, recognizes Ireland’s patron saint. Patrick, who was born in Roman Britain, was taken captive to Ireland as a slave at age 16, but later escaped. He returned to Ireland and evangelized its people in the Christian faith.

St. Patrick’s Day was first observed by the Irish as a religious holiday in around the ninth or tenth century. The world’s largest festival honoring Patrick is Dublin’s multiday celebration that features parades, concerts, fireworks, and more. But historically, the first parade held on St. Patrick’s Day occurred not in Ireland but in North America. In 1762, Irish soldiers serving in the British colonial army marched in New York City. Today, New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade boasts more than 150,000 participants and about 3 million spectators. The nation’s longest-running annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, dating to 1813, is that held in Savannah, Georgia.

The Irish dimension is a critical component of American history, in particular the Irish migration experience. The earliest Irish immigrants were middle-class Protestants, but those who arrived after the Great Potato Famine of 1845 were predominantly poor and Catholic. They were often despised for being out of step with the American Protestant majority. Eventually, the growing Irish immigrant community developed economic and political clout through solidarity and hard work. Irish Americans are the second-largest white ethnic minority in the nation, at around 11 percent. By such measures of success as educational attainment and household income, Irish Americans rank above national averages. This status was recognized by Congress in 1995 when it proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month.

Image Credit: © Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Related Links

• Archives of Irish America
  Visit this extensive online collection at New York University; includes virtual exhibits and primary sources.
  (IrishAmerica.com; accessed February 29, 2012)
• Irish America
  Check out the current issue of this online magazine for Irish Americans.
  (IrishAmerica.com; accessed February 29, 2012)
• St. Patrick’s Day
  Learn the history of the Irish in America—immigration, culture, and the heritage behind St. Patrick’s Day.
  (History.com; accessed February 29, 2012)
• Irish-American Heritage Month (March) and St. Patrick’s Day (March 17): 2012
  Learn interesting facts about Americans who claim Irish ancestry (not just on St. Patrick’s Day, that is, when “everyone” is Irish!)—population statistics, household income, educational attainment, and more.
  (U.S. Census Bureau; accessed February 29, 2012)