- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day: Holiday offers a chance to celebrate one of nation’s largest cultural groups
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Each year, millions of Americans take the chance to celebrate their connection to a beloved emerald isle and its people across the sea.
March is Irish-American Heritage Month, with the month’s pinnacle event coming on Sunday, March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day.
It’s a time when Americans’ affection for the Irish – which is reciprocated – is put on display.
Ireland is a small island nation with a mighty presence.
Ireland is nearly 33,000 square miles in size. For perspective, that’s roughly the size of the state of Indiana, and about 24 times the size of Lake County, which covers 1,329 square miles.
The patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. March 17 is the day he died, around 460 AD.
Patrick, born to wealth in Britain in the fifth century, was taken hostage by Irish raiders when he was 16. According to a history of his life, he would spend the next six years in Ireland, eventually converting to Christianity.
He later escaped and returned to Britain. However, he experienced a vision of an angel telling him to return to Ireland to work as a missionary, which he did after 15 years of religious training and ordination as a priest.
Patrick drew on Irish cultural symbols to help teach the faith. The shamrock was used to explain the trinity, he created the Celtic cross by placing the venerated sun symbol over the Christian cross and applied Christian principles to Irish celebrations.
In Lake County, Irish was the second most frequently reported ancestry, with German No. 1, according to American Community Survey statistics for 2011, the most recent year available.
Approximately 7,291 Lake County residents – out of a total population of 64,323 – claimed Irish as their primary ancestry, the survey records showed.
The US Census Bureau reported that, nationwide, German and Irish also are the No. 1 and No. 2 most commonly reported ancestries, respectively.
Across the nation, in 2011 34.5 million people reported Irish ancestry, more than seven times the 4.68 million people living in Ireland. Also in 2011, 150,990 Irish-born individuals became naturalized US citizens.
Those of Irish ancestry are likely helping keep the value of Irish imports high. The US Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division said 2011 imports of Irish goods totaled $39.4 billion, with alcoholic beverages – except wine and related products – at $532.1 million.
For the traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner, in 2011 $2.8 billion in corned beef and $28.6 billion in cabbage were imported, according to the US Census Bureau.
For those interested in finding out more about their Irish ancestors, there are a number of Web sites that can help.
Sites such as www.ireland.com can help get history hunters started, with the Irish-government sponsored www.irishgenealogy.ie a place where officials records can be found.
The National Archives Web site also has access to a variety of immigration records; start at www.archives.gov/research/immigration/ .
For those who know their ancestors’ names and are looking for ship records, the National Archives’ Irish ship passenger data offers a wealth of fascinating information. Find it at http://aad.archives.gov/aad/fielded-search.jsp?dt=180&;cat=SB302&tf=F&bc=sb,sl .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.