Revealed: The most Irish town in America

November 15, 2011

Daily Mail Reporter

A small coastal town in Massachusetts has now been revealed to have America's largest slice of the Emerald Isle.

The Irish eyes sure are smiling in the town of Scituate, where nearly half of the 18,000-person population is Irish, according to U.S. Census figures.

The latest data obtained as a part of the newest American Community Survey found that 47.5 per cent Scituate's residents list their primary ancestry as Irish.

Located in Plymouth County, the town is not far from where the pilgrims aboard the Mayflower landed in 1620.

In terms of Irish population, Scituate is closely followed by Massachusetts towns Braintree and Hull, at 46.5 per cent and 45.8 per cent, respectively.

Richard Finnegan, professor of political science and director of Irish studies at Stonehill College told The Boston Globe that such a large Irish community at the South Shore of Massachusetts is not surprising.

Finnegan told the paper: 'Where will I move if I can get ahead and move up the social ladder? Quincy, Weymouth, and down the South Shore.'

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