Chicago's large Irish community is a core part of the city's fabric. In March, during festivities for St. Patrick's Day, the Irish are the talk of the town. Irish-Americans have a long history of involvement in government and politics, as well as in the arts and public service.
This year's St. Patrick's festivities spanned two weekends and included multiple parades, Irish dance exhibitions and religious ceremonies. Even for non-Irish Chicagoans, several of these events have become legendary, namely the infamous dyeing of the Chicago River on St. Patrick's Day and the South Side Irish Parade.
The festivities make it difficult for Chicago residents to avoid noting the city's heavy Irish population during the month of March. According to Tom Boyle, the former president of the Chicago Irish American Heritage Center, there are approximately two million Irish-Americans living in the Chicago metro area. Galway, a city on the west coast of Ireland, is one of Chicago's sister cities.
Irish workers started coming to Chicago in the 1830s to dig the Illinois and Michigan canal, a project that helped transform Chicago from a frontier town to one of the most budding urban areas in the country. Indeed, the Irish immigrated to any city that had a demand for large numbers of manual laborers.
By 1860 Chicago was home to the fourth-largest Irish population in the country. Initially, the Irish lived in just a few areas of the city, tending to be most concentrated in the Oak Lawn, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Hyde Park and Englewood areas.
Today the Irish population is dispersed throughout the city, partly a result of not having a language barrier to overcome. Many of Chicago ethnic groups, such as the Polish and Indian populations, are heavily concentrated in certain parts of the city, and these enclaves provide a social base and economic opportunities for new arrivals until they can assimilate.
Irish-Americans in Chicago have been leaders in promoting Irish music and dancing. Each year the city holds a Celtic festival, and Irish music can be heard regularly at clubs and restaurants. The Trinity Irish Dance Company, founded in Chicago in 1990, helped spark an interest in traditional Irish dancing, and Michael Flatley, one of the world's more celebrated Irish dancers, grew up on the city's South Side.