Apr 6, 2011

Where Are the Irish-Americans?



These maps are a little old, from the 2010 US Federal Census, but they are still interesting. The first one shows the percentage of Scots-Irish and the second one the Irish.


Scots-Irish in America

Irish in America

Well, obviously the Irish are all over, but there was there anything that surprised you? What about Montana? What's up with that? I mean we expected that there would be a lot in Boston and New York and Maine. I'm pleased to see that there are a good many where I live.

But Montana? I wonder how many people realize how Irish parts of that state are? I looked it up. This site called Irish Montana has a lot of information. When you think about it, it does make sense. Who worked on the railroad? The Irish and the Chinese. Who worked in the mines? Many ethnic groups, but mostly the Irish. It seems they came from Irish Boston and New York, and made a major impact on the settlement of the West.

What about you? Do you have Irish blood? Where are you???

2 comments:

  1. I love seeing that phrase "Scots-Irish" (something I heard my mother say describing our heritage) since I recently read about it. Scots and irish are 2 separate nationalities, obviously, but there was a wave of immigration in the 1600s whose participants hailed from the north of Ireland and the border counties of northern England and southern Scotland. Read about this in Albion's Seed by historian David Hackett Fischer. Fascinating stuff!

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  2. Jamie,
    I wrote about it too, here: http://www.barlowgenealogy.com/Resources/scots-irish.html

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