Geographic Location
Ireland – also known as The Emerald Isle – is a tiny island, averaging about 310 miles long x 180 miles wide (just about the size of Maine!) with 3,500 miles of coastline. It lies about 3000 miles east of New York, across the Atlantic, on the westernmost edge of Europe. In fact, it is the next piece of land you would meet if you set sail eastwards from Newfoundland – Alcock & Brown, in the first successful transatlantic flight, landed in Clifden, Co Galway!
Her People
Although the current population of Ireland is approximately 5 million (just about half the population of New Jersey), there are 70m people in the US today who can trace their ancestry to Ireland, and 90m people worldwide! People have traditionally been our best export – this may explain why such a tiny country with so few people is so well known and has such a far-reaching impact worldwide. I’m sure everyone knows someone who’s Irish! Historically poverty, famine and hunger drove us across the Atlantic. As a people, we brought with us our zest for life, politics and music, pubs and literature, sports and movies, Aran sweaters and beautiful lace, Waterford Crystal and Belleek china, Guinness and soda-bread, priests and millionaires!
Historic Links with the US
There has always been a very strong link between the US and Ireland, not least because of the 70m people here who have Irish roots. During the 19th and 20th centuries, money and clothing sent home by Irish immigrants helped many families to survive. In more recent times, this link has taken a different turn given Ireland’s economic boom, with many US industries setting up in Ireland. Irish people continue to come to the US today, thankfully though, for reasons other than economic necessity.
Last updated: November 2007