People of Irish Heritage

The Republic of Ireland, also known as Eire and the Emerald Isle, covers most of the island bearing its name. The remainder of the island, Northern Ireland, is part of Great Britain. During the potato famine between 1846 and 1848, thousands of Irish died from malnutrition, typhus, dysentery, and scurvy, and millions immigrated to America. Over 38 million people of Irish descent live in the US. The Irish in America are a diverse group and vary in their beliefs according to acculturation, individuality, and the variant characteristics of culture as described in Chap. 1.