MOUNT GREENWOOD — Turns out there's good reason for the shamrocks on nearly every bar, restaurant and small business in Mount Greenwood.
The Southwest Side community ranked among the top 10 neighborhoods in the U.S. with the highest percentage of Irish Americans, according to the IrishCentral website.
The site claiming to be the largest online resource for the Irish in North America relied on the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to gather its statistics.
Mount Greenwood ranked fourth among the top neighborhoods. Census data found 40.7 percent of all Mount Greenwood residents claimed Irish heritage, according to IrishCentral.
Neighborhoods ranking ahead of Mount Greenwood were all in the New York area, including Breezy Point/Rockaway Point in Queens, Point Lookout in Long Island and Pearl River in New York.
When looking at cities overall, the Census data and corresponding survey found that Irish Americans live largely in the Northeastern United States. IrishCentral also found five out of 10 Irish Americans live near bodies of water.
Thus, the most Irish areas in America include Boston; Middlesex County, Massachusetts; Peabody, Massachusetts; and Albany, New York.
Across the country, the Irish American community makes up 5 percent of the population in most counties. In New England, New York state, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania they represent 10 percent, according to IrishCentral.
Overall, the latest Census revealed that 34.1 million Americans have Irish ancestry. That’s seven times the population of Ireland, according to the website.
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