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GREEN & GOLD
A statistical look at the holiday
ST. PATRICK'S DAY | BY THE NUMBERS
About St. Patrick's Day
â– St. Patrick's Day honors Ireland's legendary patron saint, who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century and died on March 17 in 461.
â– The world's first St. Patrick's Day parade occurred on March 17, 1762, in New York.
â– In 1991, Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month.
â– The holiday has evolved to a celebration of all things Irish.
Shamrock or blarney?
An Irish shamrock is a wildflower, but the ones sold in U.S. flower shops are often impostors, cloverlike sorrels easily grown in greenhouses.
'Original' Irish shamrock
"Shamrock" comes from the Irish "seamrog" or little clover
• Probably closest to today's trifolium repens (white clover), which originated in Europe
• May have a triangular mark (a crescent or watermark) on upper surface
• White flowers, sometimes with pink hue
White clover
Familiar shamrock
Oxalis acetosella (wood sorrel) is a variety sold often for St. Patrick's Day
• Three heart-shaped leaflets; easily mistaken for clover, but leaves are paler green, softer
• Fold easily at midrib; many plants fold leaves up at night
• White or pink flowers
Wood sorrel
32.4 million or 9.5%
The number and share of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2024.
116,641
The number of foreign-born U.S. residents who reported Ireland as their birthplace in 2024.
436,577
The number of people living in Cook County, Illinois, who claimed Irish ancestry in 2024.
$5.80
Average price per pound in March for corned beef brisket flats compared to $4.71 per pound in 2025.
$3.64
Average price per pound in March for corned beef brisket points compared to $3.56 per pound in 2025.
$0.54
Average price per pound in March for green cabbage compared to $0.68 per pound in 2025.
Sources: Tribune News Service, National Retail Federation, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Agriculture, University of Vermont, Peterson Field Guides: Wildflowers
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