Today we celebrate Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Although St. Patrick’s Day is not a federally recognized holiday in the United States, millions of Americans identify as ethnically Irish, either partially or entirely. According to the latest U.S. census data, over 33 million Americans identify as Irish, placing it as the second-most common ancestry in the United States after German.

 

Currently, there are more than 1,000 Irish F and M students studying in the United States. According to data from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, most of these Irish F and M international students study in New York and California. The University of Notre Dame du Lac in Indiana, more commonly referred to as Notre Dame, is the most popular school for F-1 Irish students to attend. Because of the large Irish influence in the United States, St. Patrick’s Day continues to be enthusiastically celebrated all over the country. In fact, some of the largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the world happen in U.S. cities like New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington, D.C., among many others including Savannah, Ga., which is known for hosting the second largest parade in the world.

 

How do you and your school plan to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Tell us when you share this article on Twitter and Facebook using #StPatricksDay.