Laura O'Hipshire
ERICKSON TRIBUNE
There are four cities in the United States named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland: Mount Gay-Shamrock, W. Va.; Shamrock, Tex.; Shamrock Lakes, Ind.; and Shamrock, Okla.
Americans consume 22 gallons of beer per capita annually.
This year marks the 50th Annual St. Patrick’s Parade in Detroit. The Parade will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 16, along Michigan Avenue in the area known as “Corktown,” so designated for its history as home to many early arriving immigrants from County Cork, in Ireland. The parade covers a dozen or so blocks and passes historic Tiger Stadium and the Gaelic League/Irish American Club.
It wasn’t until 1997 that divorce became legalized in the predominantly Roman Catholic country of Ireland.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 36 million U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (slightly more than four million). Irish is the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing German.