Irish people

Irish people
Muintir na hÉireann
Total population
c. 80–90* million worldwide[1]
Regions with significant populations
 Republic of Ireland   4,581,269 (2011)[2] Northern Ireland   1,810,863 (2011)[3]
(Irish descent only)
 United States40,000,000+:[4]
 Great Britain14,000,000+:[5]
 Australia7,000,000+:[6]
 Canada4,544,870+:[7]
 Argentina1,000,000[8]
 Mexico600,000[9]
 New Zealand600,000[10]
 France15,000[11]
Languages
Irish (Gaelic),
English (Irish English dialects),
Scots (Ulster Scots dialects),
Shelta
Religion
Mainly Christianity
(majority Roman Catholicism; minority Protestantism, especially Presbyterianism, Anglicanism, Methodism)
see also: Religion in Ireland
Related ethnic groups
Irish Travellers, Anglo-Irish, Bretons, Cornish, English, Icelanders,[12] Manx, Norse, Scots, Ulster Scots, Welsh
* Around 800,000 people born in Ireland reside in Great Britain, with around 14,000,000 people claiming Irish ancestry.[13]

The Irish are an ethnic group who come from or came from the island of Ireland. There are two countries on the island of Ireland: the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Historically, the Irish have been primarily a Celtic people. Many countries, especially English-speaking countries, have people with Irish roots.

In Northern Ireland, there have been violent fights between the Unionists, who identify as British people and are mainly Protestant, and the Nationalists, who identify as Irish and are mainly Catholic. Irish people have a strong culture and beliefs.

Due to problems in Ireland, most importantly a famine between 1845 and 1852, caused by the potatoes in Ireland being destroyed by disease, many Irish moved out of Ireland, including Great Britain, and to other countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia. At present, many more Irish live in the United States than in Ireland, with many of them living in large American cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The population of Irish people in the United States is over seven times more populated than that of those who live in the original homeland of Ireland.[14]

References

  1. ↑ ceu@scotland.gsi.gov.uk, Scottish Government, St. Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh EH1 3DG Tel:0131 556 8400 (29 May 2009). "The Scottish Diaspora and Diaspora Strategy: Insights and Lessons from Ireland". www.scotland.gov.uk.{cite web}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ Demographics of the Republic of Ireland
  3. ↑ Demography of Northern Ireland
  4. ↑ American FactFinder, United States Census Bureau. "U.S. Census Bureau, 2007". Factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  5. ↑ "One in four Britons claim Irish roots". BBC News. 2001-03-16. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  6. ↑ "Department of Foreign Affairs - Emigrant Grants". 28 July 2013. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013.{cite web}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ↑ "Ethnic Origin (264), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age Groups (10) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2011 National Household Survey". Statistics Canada. 2011.
  8. ↑ "IrishAbroad.com - Irish Social Networking worldwide". www.irishabroad.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  9. ↑ "LOS IRLANDESES-MEXICANOS: The Irish in Mexico". thewildgeese.irish.
  10. ↑ "The Irish in New Zealand: Historical Contexts and Perspectives - Brian Easton". www.eastonbh.ac.nz.
  11. ↑ "Présentation de l'Irlande". France Diplomatie : : Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères.
  12. ↑ Helgason, Agnar; et al. (2000). "Estimating Scandinavian and Gaelic ancestry in the male settlers of Iceland". The American Journal of Human Genetics. 67 (3): 697–717. doi:10.1086/303046. PMC 1287529. PMID 10931763.
  13. ↑ Bowcott, Owen (2006-09-13). "More Britons applying for Irish passports | UK news | guardian.co.uk". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  14. ↑ "The Irish-American population is seven times larger than Ireland". The Washington Post. Sarah Kliff, Washington post. March 17 2013

Further reading