Introduction
Here is your guide to Irish Heritage and St. Patrick's Day at the Arthur C. Banks Library at Capital Community College. Notice the tabs along the top of the screen; select the one that best matches your informational need.
History of St. Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick’s Day, feast day (March 17) of St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. Born in Roman Britainin the late 4th century, he was kidnapped at the age of 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped but returned about 432 to convert the Irish to Christianity. By the time of his death on March 17, 461, he had established monasteries, churches, and schools. Many legends grew up around him—for example, that he drove the snakes out of Ireland and used the shamrock to explain the Trinity. Ireland came to celebrate his day with religious services and feasts.
It was emigrants, particularly to the United States, who transformed St. Patrick’s Day into a largely secular holiday of revelry and celebration of things Irish. Cities with large numbers of Irish immigrants, who often wielded political power, staged the most extensive celebrations, which included elaborate parades. Boston held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1737, followed by New York City in 1762. Since 1962 Chicago has coloured its river green to mark the holiday. (Although blue was the colour traditionally associated with St. Patrick, green is now commonly connected with the day.) Irish and non-Irish alike commonly participate in the “wearing of the green”—sporting an item of green clothing or a shamrock, the Irish national plant, in the lapel. Corned beef and cabbage are associated with the holiday, and even beer is sometimes dyed green to celebrate the day. Although some of these practices eventually were adopted by the Irish themselves, they did so largely for the benefit of tourists.
Written by the editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica
Famous Irish Americans
To locate biographical information on the following persons, use one of the library's biography databases, located on the library home page.
Actors and Actresses
Born in the 1850s
- Eddie Foy
Born in the 1870s
- George M. Cohan
Born in the 1880s
- Walter Huston
- Lon Chaney
Born in the 1890s
- Walter Brennan
- James Cagney
- Charles Laughton
- Thomas Mitchell
- Pat O'Brien
Born in the 1900s
- Joan Crawford
- Bring Crosby
- Errol Flynn
- Clark Gable
- Greer Carson
- Helen Hayes
- John Huston
- Robert Ryan
- Barbara Stanwyck
- Spencer Tracy
- Robert Young
Born in the 1910s
- Art Carney
- Geraldine Fitzgerald
- Jackie Gleason
- Gene Kelly
- Maureen O'Sullivan
- Gregory Peck
- Anthony Quinn
- Ronald Reagan
Born in the 1920s
- Marlon Brando
- Jack Cassidy
- Rosemary Clooney
- Judy Garland
- Grace Kelly
- Jack Lord
- Anne Meara
- Carroll O'Connor
- Maureen O'Hara
- Maureen Stapleton
- Gene Tierney
Born in the 1930s
- Eileen Brennan
- George Carlin
- Brian Dennehy
- Mike Farrell
- Elvis Presley
Born in the 1940s
- Patrick Duffy
- Patty Duke
- Mia Farrow
- Harrison Ford
- Diane Keaton
- Kevin Kline
- Michael Moriarty
- Ryan O'Neal
- Martin Sheen
- Suzanne Somers
Born in the 1950s
- Alec Baldwin
- Pierce Brosnan
- David Caruso
- Tim Daly
- Mel Gibson
- Patricia Heaton
- Bill Murray
- John Travolta
Born in the 1960s
- Matthew Broderick
- George Clooney
- Stephen Colbert
- Tom Cruise
- Kim Delany
- Conan O'Brien
- Ben Stiller
Born in the 1970s
- Ben Affleck
- Mariah Carey
- Laura Flynn Boyle
- Emily Deschanel
- Jimmy Fallon
- Bridget Moynahan
- Mark Wahlberg
Born in the 1980s
- Macaulay Culkin
- Anne Hathaway
- Lindsay Lohan
- Emma Stone
- Kate Mara
- Rooney Mara
Born in the 1990s
- Abigail Breslin
- Dakota Fanning
- Demi Lovato
- Emma Roberts
- Saoirse Ronan
Arts
- Matthew Brady, photographer
- Georgia O'Keefe, painter
Filmmakers
- Walt Disney
- John Ford, film director and producer
- Alfred Hitchcock
- John Huston
- Michael Moore
- Mack Sennett
- William Wellman, film director and producer
Inventors and Scientists
- Ernest Walton
- Robert Fulton
- Dr. William Brooke O'Shaughnessy
- James Martin
- Samuel O'Reilly
- Hans Sloan
Law
- William Brennan, Jr, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- James Comey
- Anthony Kennedy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Literature
- Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz
- Bill Bryson, travel writer
- John Carroll, author of The Basketball Diaries
- Raymond Chandler, author of the Philip Marlowe detective series
- Kate Chopin, novelist and short story writer, author of The Awakening
- Tom Clancy, novelist, author of The Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger, among others.
- Mary Higgins Clark, author of suspense novels
- Michael Connelly, crime novelist
- Pat Conroy, novelist
- James T. Farrell, novelist, author of the Studs Lonigan trilogy
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, novelist
- Peter Hamill, journalist
- George V. Higgins, novelist, known for best selling crime novels, including The Friends of Eddie Coyle.
- Frank McCourt, memoirist author of Angela's Ashes.
- Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind.
- Eugene O'Neill, playwright.
- Anne Rice, horror novelist, author of the the Interview With a Vampire series.
- Nora Roberts, romance novelist.
- Nicholas Sparks, author and screenwriter.
Media and Journalists
- Jimmy Breslin
- Phil Donahue
- Roger Ebert
- Conan O'Brien
- Soledad O'Brien
- Tim Russert, journalist and television host.
- Elizabeth Vargas
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Brian Williams
Politicians
- Joe Biden
- Susan Collins
- Jacqueline Kennedy
- John F. Kenney
- Robert F. Kennedy
- Edward (Ted) Kennedy
- Ronald Reagan
Sports
- Tom Brady
- John Daly, professional golfer
- Jack Dempsey, professional boxer
- John Elway
- Derek Jeter
- John McEnroe
- John L. Sullivan, professional boxer
- Gene Tunney, professional boxer.
