Declining Ranks of Irish Americans

In 2017, Drew DeSilver reported at Pew:

In 2015, 32.7 million Americans, or one-in-ten, identified themselves as being of Irish ancestry, making it the second-largest ancestry group in the U.S. after Germans. In addition, nearly 3 million Americans claimed Scotch-Irish ancestry, or just under 1% of the entire population. (The Scotch-Irish were mainly Ulster Protestants who migrated to the British colonies in the decades before independence, while Irish Catholics didn’t begin arriving in large numbers until the 1840s.) By comparison, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have a combined population of about 6.6 million. 

The ranks of both Irish and Scotch-Irish Americans have fallen a lot in the past two-and-a-half decades, and the trend does not appear likely to reverse. Two decades ago, in 1990, 38.7 million Americans (15.6% of the total population) claimed Irish ancestry, and 5.6 million (2.3%) identified as Scotch-Irish.

Both ancestral groups are older than the U.S. population as a whole. In 2013, the median age of those claiming Irish ancestry was 40.5, and 52.1 for those of Scotch-Irish ancestry, versus a median age of 37.8 for the entire population. Nor are the Irish immigrating to the U.S. in anything close to the numbers they used to: In fiscal 2015, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics, just 1,607 Irish-born people obtained legal permanent residency.

The trend has continued.  From the Census:

30.7 million or 9.2% The number and percentage of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2022. Source: 2022 American Community Survey 1-year estimates

112,251 The number of foreign-born U.S. residents who reported Ireland as their birthplace in 2022. Source: 2022 American Community Survey 1-year estimates

And in fiscal 2022, the number of Irish people obtaining legal permanent residency was just 1,407. 

 

Irish Americans

 Derick Moore,Gerson Vasquez and Ryan Dolan at the US Census:

Irish heritage is strong in America: More than 31.5 million residents claim Irish ancestry, second only to German (43.0 million).

And when it comes to U.S. presidents, including current President Joe Biden, exactly half (23) trace some of their roots to Ireland.

Not surprisingly, the most Irish states are in New England and are geographically connected.
...

Of the 10 counties with the largest population of Irish ancestry in the United States, Los Angeles County — the nation’s largest — has the smallest (3.6%).

Two counties in Montana are small but very Irish: Silver Bow County at 28.4% and Deer Lodge County at 25.4%.

 

Derick Moore is a senior communications specialist at the Census Bureau.

Gerson Vasquez and Ryan Dolan are data visualization leads at the Census Bureau.

Irish-American Heritage Month

From the Census:

The U.S. Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1991, and the president issues a proclamation commemorating the occasion each year.

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 of 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. This parade became an annual event, with President Truman attending in 1948.

The following facts are made possible by the invaluable responses to the U.S. Census Bureau’s surveys. We appreciate the public’s cooperation as we continuously measure America’s people, places and economy.

Did You Know?

32.6 million or 10.1%
The number and percentage of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2017. Source:  2013-2017 American Community Survey

124,411
The number of foreign-born U.S. residents who reported Ireland as their birthplace in 2017.Source: 2013-2017 American Community Survey 

31.1% The county with among the highest percentage of people who claimed Irish ancestry in 2017 was Plymouth County, Mass.Source: 2013-2017 American Community Survey 

20,590The estimated number of U.S. residents who spoke Irish Gaelic.Source: 2009-2013 American Community Survey

Cultural Cluelessness, Fake Quotations, and Irish Americans

Samantha Schmidt reports at The Washington Post:

“Top of the morning,” said Vice President Pence, as he hosted Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny at his residence for breakfast Thursday.

Really? The reaction by Irish on social media was palpable.

“Literally just shouted ‘NOBODY SAYS THAT’ at the TV,” a journalist in Ireland tweeted. “I’ve literally only ever heard that said by Americans,” another person said.

“How do all the Irish people not just go, ‘Nope,’ and leave the room?” tweeted another.Ireland’s leader was in Washington for a series of events in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, including breakfast with the vice president, a luncheon at the U.S. Capitol, a one-on-one meeting with President Trump and a long-standing annual ceremony in which the U.S. president is presented with a bowl of shamrocks.

...

At the luncheon, Trump shared what he claimed was an “Irish proverb.”

“As we stand together with our Irish friends, I’m reminded of an Irish proverb — and this is a good one, this is one I like, I’ve heard it for many, many years and I love it,” Trump said. “Always remember to forget the friends that proved untrue, but never forget to remember those that have stuck by you.”
...

A White House spokeswoman told the Hill newspaper that the proverb was originally supplied in an email on March 8 by the State Department via the National Security Council “as building blocks in advance of this event.”

She said the “building blocks” were provided in the context of the shamrock ceremony and were ultimately used in the prepared remarks at the luncheon. While a number of websites, Pinterest boards and books do, indeed, refer to the quote as an “Irish blessing,” its origin was unclear.

Across social media, many pointed out that a poem by Nigerian poet Albashir Adam Alhassan includes a similar stanza. 

From the Census:

32.7 million or 10.2%: The number and percentage of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2015. This number was more than seven times the population of Ireland itself (4.6 million). Irish was the nation’s second-most frequently reported European ancestry, trailing German. Source:
2015 American Community Survey, Table B04006 2015 Population and Migration Estimates (Ireland Central Statistics Office)
...
20.2%: The percentage of Massachusetts residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2015. New Hampshire, at 20.6 percent, was the only other state in which at least 20.0 percent claimed Irish ancestry. (The rates for the two states were not statistically different from each other.) California had 2.5 million people who claimed Irish ancestry, which was the highest of any state. Two other states — New York and Pennsylvania — also had more than 2.0 million Irish-Americans. Source:
2015 American Community Survey, Table B04006
...
$64,322: The median income for households headed by an Irish-American, higher than the median household income of $55,775 for all households in 2015. In addition, 6.5 percent of family households headed by a householder of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 10.6 percent for all Americans. Source:
2015 American Community Survey, Table S0201, Selected Population Profile for Irish in the United States 2015 American Community Survey, Table S0201, Selected Population Profile for the Total Population in the United States
241,481: The number of foreign-born U.S. residents with Irish ancestry in 2015. Of these, 143,972 had become naturalized citizens. Source:
2015 American Community Survey, Table S0201, Selected Population Profile for Irish in the United States 2015 American Community Survey, Table S0201, Selected Population Profile for the Total Population in the United States

Bono on the Idea of America

In November 2012, Bono addressed the Global Social Enterprise Initiative (GSEI) at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business.

At one point, he spoke about the idea of America:




Eight years earlier, he gave the commencement address at the University of Pennsylvania:

Me, I'm in love with this country called America. I'm a huge fan of America, I'm one of those annoying fans, you know the ones that read the CD notes and follow you into bathrooms and ask you all kinds of annoying questions about why you didn't live up to that.

I'm that kind of fan. I read the Declaration of Independence and I've read the Constitution of the United States, and they are some liner notes, dude. As I said yesterday I made my pilgrimage to Independence Hall, and I love America because America is not just a country, it's an idea. You see my country, Ireland, is a great country, but it's not an idea. America is an idea, but it's an idea that brings with it some baggage, like power brings responsibility. It's an idea that brings with it equality, but equality even though it's the highest calling, is the hardest to reach. The idea that anything is possible, that's one of the reasons why I'm a fan of America. It's like hey, look there's the moon up there, lets take a walk on it, bring back a piece of it. That's the kind of America that I'm a fan of.

In 1771 your founder Mr. Franklin spent three months in Ireland and Scotland to look at the relationship they had with England to see if this could be a model for America, whether America should follow their example and remain a part of the British Empire.

Franklin was deeply, deeply distressed by what he saw. In Ireland he saw how England had put a stranglehold on Irish trade, how absentee English landlords exploited Irish tenant farmers and how those farmers in Franklin's words "lived in retched hovels of mud and straw, were clothed in rags and subsisted chiefly on potatoes." Not exactly the American dream...

So instead of Ireland becoming a model for America, America became a model for Ireland in our own struggle for independence.

When the potatoes ran out, millions of Irish men, women and children packed their bags got on a boat and showed up right here. And we're still doing it. We're not even starving anymore, loads of potatoes. In fact if there's any Irish out there, I've breaking news from Dublin, the potato famine is over you can come home now. But why are we still showing up? Because we love the idea of America.

The Irish and America

Many posts have dealt with ethnicity in the United States. On St. Patrick's Day, it is appropriate to consider some data from the Census:

34.5 million Number of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2011. This number was more than seven times the population of Ireland itself (4.68 million). Irish was the nation's second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.
Source: 2011 American Community SurveyIreland Central Statistics Office

150,990 Number of Irish-born naturalized U.S. residents in 2011.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey

39.3 years old Median age of U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry is higher than the U.S. residents median age as a whole (37.3 years).
Source: 2011 American Community Survey

12.9% Percent of New York state residents who were of Irish ancestry in 2011. This compares with a rate of 11.1 percent for the nation as a whole.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey

33.3% Percentage of people of Irish ancestry, 25 or older, who had a bachelor's degree or higher. In addition, 92.9 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 28.5 percent and 85.9 percent, respectively.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey

$57,319 Median income for households headed by an Irish-American, higher than the $50,502 for all households. In addition, 7.3 percent of families of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 11.7 percent for all Americans families.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey

At The Huffington Post, Jed Kolko writes:

Irish-Americans are strongly concentrated in the Northeast. The percentage of people with primary Irish ancestry tops out at 20% in the Boston metro area, followed by Middlesex County, MA (west of Boston) and Peabody, MA (north of Boston). The top six metros are all in Massachusetts or upstate New York:

America's Most Irish Metros
# U.S. Metro % Irish ancestry
1 Boston, MA 20.4%
2 Middlesex County, MA 16.9%
3 Peabody, MA 15.8%
4 Albany, NY 15.6%
5 Syracuse, NY 15.0%
6 Worcester, MA 14.8%
7 Camden, NJ 14.8%
8 Philadelphia, PA 14.2%
9 Long Island, NY 13.1%
10 Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ 13.0%

Among 100 largest metros. Primary Irish ancestry only.

Last fall, the Irish Times polled the island about the US presidential race:

THE VAST majority of Irish voters want Barack Obama to win the US presidential election in less than three weeks time, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll. It shows a tiny level of support among the electorate for Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

When asked who they would support if they had a vote in the US election, 79 per cent of respondents said Obama while just 5 per cent opted for Romney and 16 per cent had no opinion.