According to Census Bureau: 34.5 Million Americans claim Irish Ancestry

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http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/006328.html

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CB06-FF.04-2
March 10, 2006


Irish-American Heritage Month (March)
and St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) 2006

Although not an official “federal” holiday in the United States, St. Patrick’s Day has a long history of being celebrated with parades and general goodwill for all things Irish. The day commemorates St. Patrick, believed to have died on March 17, who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. Because many Americans celebrate their Irish lineage on St. Patrick’s Day, March was picked as Irish-American Heritage Month. The month was first proclaimed in 1995 by Congress. Each year, the U.S. president also issues an Irish-American Heritage Month proclamation.

Population Distribution
34.5 million
Number of U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (4.1 million). Irish is the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only those of German ancestry. (The ancestry estimates exclude people living in group quarters.) (Source: American FactFinder and <http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/population/current/popmig.pdf>)

24%
Percentage of Massachusetts residents of Irish ancestry — about double the national percentage. (The estimate of people of Irish ancestry excludes people living in group quarters.) (Source: American FactFinder)

3
Number of states in which Irish is the leading ancestry group: Delaware, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Irish is among the top-five ancestries in every state but two (Hawaii and New Mexico).
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/census_2000/001870.html>

54
Number of counties where Irish is the largest observed ancestry group. Forty-four of these counties are in the Northeast, with 14 in New York, 11 in Massachusetts and five in New Jersey. (The number of people of Irish ancestry in a county may not be significantly different from the number of people of other ancestries in the county.) (Source: unpublished data)

348,978
Number of Middlesex County, Mass., residents who are of Irish ancestry. Among the 54 counties where Irish is the largest observed ancestry group, Middlesex had the highest population of Irish-Americans, with Norfolk County, Mass., second, with 203,285. (Source: unpublished data)

31%
Percentage of the population of Plymouth County, Mass., and Norfolk County, Mass., that is of Irish ancestry. Among the 54 counties where Irish is the largest observed ancestry group, these two counties had the highest rate. (Source: unpublished data)

The Mother Tongue
25,870
The number of U.S. residents who speak Irish Gaelic at home. <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/lang_use.html>

Coming to America
128,000
Number of U.S. residents born in Ireland. (The estimate excludes people living in group quarters.) (Source: American FactFinder)

4.8 million
Total number of immigrants from Ireland lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence since fiscal year 1820, the earliest year for which official immigration records exist. 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 at <http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/yearbook/YrBk04Im.htm>.
See Table 1.)

1,518
Total number of immigrants from Ireland lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence in the 2004 fiscal year. (Source: Department of Homeland Security at <http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/yearbook/YrBk04Im.htm>. See Table 2.)

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1. Tomorrow and Yesterday ,Yes.....

for today however the figures are frightfully low....go ask around the bars.