St. Patrick's Day Trivia, Enhanced with Pieces from Department 56 Christmas in the City and Snow Village

Dept. 56., Christmas in the City,
"Miss Shannon's School of Dance," #59251

"Erin go Braugh!"  It's March, so naturally our thoughts turn Irish.  To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we may tip a green beer, or wear green shamrocks on our lapels, and or pull out the corned beef and cabbage recipe for its yearly appearance on the menu.  But what do we really know about Irish culture?  I thought it would be fun to explore some trivia, and enhance it with Department 56 pieces from Christmas in the City, and even one from Snow Village.  Here goes....

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Erin Go Bragh," #59446

1.  First, do you know what "Erin Go Bragh!" means?  Well, I didn't, and if my Irish grandfather had known that, he would probably have rolled over in his grave.  The phrase means "Ireland forever," or some derivation like that. The phrase was used not only to signify allegiance to Ireland, but to claim an Irish identity, to cheer for "football" teams like the Hibernian, or to be used as the name of a ship that made the longest voyage of its time, to Australia in 1862.

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Kelly's Irish Crafts," #59216

2. If we wrote down the names of all of the Irish and partly-Irish who influenced American culture, we could cause a spike in paper product stocks. What famous Americans would we include?

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"The Ed Sullivan Theater," #59233

On the list we would find John and Robert Kennedy, Ed Sullivan, Bing Crosby, Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Grace Kelly, Eugene O'Neil, Georgia O'Keeffe, William F. Buckley, Ronald Reagan, Billy the Kid, Typhoid Mary, Walter O'Malley,  and, hold on to your Leprechaun hat, Barack Obama!

Dept. 56, The American Price Collection,
"The White House," #57701

3. How many  politicians who can claim Irish ancestry have become American Presidents?

Dept. 56, American Pride Collection,
"Ellis Island," #57713

In fact, there are 22 American presidents who claim at least some Irish ancestry, including the following:  Jackson, Polk, Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Grant, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Truman, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, both George H. W. and George W. Bush, Clinton, and Obama.

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Precinct 25 Police Station," #58941

4.  Poor Irish emigrating to the United States often landed in large eastern seaboard ports like Boston and New York, and ultimately many of them became employed as policemen and firemen. Everyone knows that.  But....what percent of policemen were Irish in New York City?    

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"To Protect and To Serve,'" #58902

In 1855 the New York Police Commission said that almost 17% of the city's police officers were Irish-born;  28.2% of the city as a whole was Irish.  By the 1860's, more than half of those arrested in New York City were Irish, and nearly half of the city's law enforcement officers were also Irish.  By the turn of the 20th century, 5 out of every 6 NYPD were Irish, and as late as the 1960's, 42% were of Irish descent.

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Molly O'Brien's Irish Pub," #57713

5. Now, the final Irish Trivia question in this blog:  How much Guinness will be consumed on St. Patrick's Day?

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Serving Irish Ale," #58988

Well, in 2010, it was estimated that 13 million pints of Guinness were consumed on St. Patricks Day worldwide. That is double the daily average!  But that's just Guinness...

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Katie McCabe's Restaurant and Books," #59208

So, next question:  How much beer, of all types, is consumed on St. Patricks day?

Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"McGuire's Irish Pub," #55066

Well, St. Patrick's Day beer consumption constitutes about 1% of the total annual beer consumption.  Annual global beer consumption will top 52.8 BILLION gallons by 2013.  One percent of that, the amount consumed on St. Patrick's Day,  is about 528 million gallons, or 4.2 billion pints.

Erin Go Braugh to you all!