Green beer and buckled hats aside, St. Patrick's Day is not a bank holiday, but most Americans celebrate it with gusto anyway. What is St. Patrick's Day and what does it mean to Americans? Here are some ideas, courtesy of research by the U.S. Census.

March is Irish-American Heritage Month, and March 17 is St. Patrick's Day. He was the saint who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, and March 17 is the day that St. Patrick is believed to have died.

The day is chosen for many Americans to celebrate their Irish lineage, and although it isn't an official federal holiday, many communities participate in the fun with parades and other celebrations. The reason? About 34.5 million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry (roughly nine times the population of Ireland itself (4.1 million.)

Here are some of other facts for your "Top 'o the mornin'":

Nearly one in four (24 percent) Massachusetts residents claim Irish ancestry -- about double the national percentage. (Source: American FactFinder)

In three states, Delaware, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, Irish is the leading ancestry. The number one ancestry named by U.S.residents is German. Irish is among the top-five ancestries in every state but two (Hawaii and New Mexico). (Source: U.S. Census)

About 25,870 U.S. residents speak Irish Gaelic at home (Source: U.S. Census)

There are about 128,000 U.S. residents who were born in Ireland, excluding people living in group quarters. (Source: American FactFinder)

Since 1820, the earliest year for which official immigration records exist, there have been 4.8 million Irish immigrants lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. By fiscal year 1870, about half of these immigrants were admitted for lawful permanent residence. Only Germany, Mexico, Italy and the United Kingdom have had more immigrants admitted for permanent residence to the United States than Ireland. (Source: Department of Homeland Security Table 1)

Four places in the United States are named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland. Mount Gay-Shamrock, W.Va., and Shamrock, Texas, were the most populous, with 2,623 and 1,821 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind., had 162 residents and Shamrock, Okla., 126. (Statistic for Mount Gay-Shamrock is from Census 2000; the other statistics in this paragraph are 2004 estimates.) (Source: American FactFinder and Census.gov)

Nine U.S. burbs are named after Dublin, the capital of Ireland. Since Census 2000, Dublin, Calif., has surpassed Dublin,Ohio, as the most populous of these places (36,995 compared with 34,301, respectively, as of July 1, 2004). (Source: American FactFinder and Census.gov)

Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick's Day dish. The corned beef celebrants dine on may very well have originated in Texas, which produced 7.3 billion pounds worth of beef, while the cabbage most likely came from California, which produced 558 million pounds worth. In 2004, the U.S. produced 41.5 billion & 2.5 billion U.S. beef and cabbage production, respectively, in pounds. (Source USDA)

On St. Patrick's Day, you may be able to order green-dyed beer at one of the nation's 48,050 drinking places, some of which may be Irish pubs. See Table 201, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006 .

About 93.3 million people planned to wear green last St. Patrick's Day.(Source: National Retail Federation, via Hallmark.)

Published: March 16, 2006

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