Irish Americans
Irish Americans are ethnic Irish who live in the United States and are American citizens. Most Irish Americans of the 21st century are descendants of immigrants who moved to the United States in the mid-19th century because of The Great Famine in Ireland.[10]
Social history in the United States[edit]
Religion and society[edit]
Religion has been important to the Irish American identity in America, and continues to play a major role in their communities. Surveys conducted since the 1970s have shown consistent majorities or pluralities of those who self-identify as being of Irish ancestry in the United States as also self-identifying as Protestants.[146][147] The Protestants' ancestors arrived primarily in the colonial era, while Catholics are primarily descended from immigrants of the 19th century. Irish leaders have been prominent in the Catholic Church in the United States for over 150 years. The Irish have been leaders in the Presbyterian and Methodist traditions, as well.[178]
Surveys in the 1990s show that of Americans who identify themselves as "Irish", 51% said they were Protestant and 36% identified as Catholic. In the Southern United States, Protestants account for 73% of those claiming Irish origins, while Catholics account for 19%. In the Northern United States, 45% of those claiming Irish origin are Catholic, while 39% are Protestant.[178]