Map o’ Maine: the state’s most (and least) Irish towns

This St. Patrick’s Day, I’m taking a more healthful tack: a slightly irresponsible demographics binge.

Statewide, about 18 percent of Maine residents claim some Irish ancestry, and local figures give a picture of which Maine communities have the largest share of people with some bloodline back to the Emerald Isle.

For some of Maine’s smallest towns, those estimates are pretty rough, so keep that in mind. I’ve eliminated some of the wildest outliers, giving a picture of Maine towns ranging from those with an estimated 5 percent of residents with Irish ancestors (Van Buren) to about 38 percent (Littleton).

Both of those Aroostook County towns have small populations and are at the edges of this demographics binge, which I now present.

If you want a more personal look at the impact of those Irish ancestors in Maine, check out the Maine Irish Heritage Trail, or maybe join in the sing-alongs at BDN photographer Troy Bennett’s show in Portland tonight.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and don’t consume too much… data. 

Darren Fishell

About Darren Fishell

Darren is a Portland-based reporter for the Bangor Daily News writing about the Maine economy and business. He's interested in putting economic data in context and finding the stories behind the numbers.