St. Patrick's Day is a foundation of Irish culture. This full color illustrated book is meant as a brief guide to the history, traditions and delights that make March 17th "a great day for the Irish" and for anyone who knows someone who is Irish. The Irish remembered the day as they moved to other lands. In the United States, they began publicly observing the day in the early 18th century. The Irish presence in America increased dramatically in the 1840s as a result of Ireland's potato famine of 1845-1849. The St. Patrick's Day parade began to serve as a means for the Irish to show their strength and political power in the United States and the number of marchers in the parades increased dramatically over the years. Today, St Patrick's Day is a celebration of Irish culture. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 56.7 million Americans claim Irish ancestry with another 5.4 million identifying themselves as Scotch-Irish. Together that makes close to 14% of the population.