Test your - American - St. Paddy’s Day IQ Quiz

See original HERE

St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) has become a favorite day of celebration for millions of Americans, both Irish-Americans and the non-Irish alike. Sure and begorrah. There are parades and parties, displays of shamrocks and green everywhere, meals of corned beef and cabbage and, of course, ample spirits.

Perhaps that’s because there were many waves of immigration to the United States from Ireland and now approximately 32 million — or 10 percent of the U.S. population — claim Irish ancestry, according to the Census Bureau’s most recent statistics. An estimated 3 million more identify as Scots-Irish.

The quiz below, from the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University in Ohio, provides an opportunity for you to test your knowledge of immigration broadly, the migration of the Irish to America and the impact they have had on U.S. history and culture.


1. An early wave of Irish immigrants came to the United States in the 1820s for what purpose?
A. Escape famine in Ireland

B. Build the Erie Canal
C. Flee religious persecution
D. Pursue educational opportunities


2. Who was the first U.S. president of documented Irish ancestry?
A. Andrew Jackson

B. John F. Kennedy
C. James Buchanan
D. William McKinley


3. How many signatories of the Declaration of Independence were of Irish descent?
A. Three
B. Twenty-three
C. Eight
D. Eighteen


4. The American Party rose to prominence in the 1850s based on a growing anti-immigrant sentiment, especially toward the Irish and Germans. The party also was known by what name?
A. Know-nothings
B. Order of the Star-Spangled Banner
C. Whigs
D. Democrats


5. Because of the Great Hunger in Ireland, when blight destroyed the country’s potato crop, more than 1.5 million Irish immigrated to the United States. When did this mass migration occur?
A. Between 1845 and 1855
B. Between 1825 and 1835
C. Between 1910 and 1920
D. Between 1890 and 1900



6. Immigrants comprise what percentage of the current U.S. population?
A. 20 percent
B. 7.5 percent
C. 33 percent
D. 13.5 percent


7. Five Civil War regiments made up what was known as the Union Army’s Irish Brigade. Who was the brigade’s leader?
A. Brig. Gen. James Shields
B. Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne
C. Brig. Gen. Thomas Meagher
D. Brig. Gen. Michael Corcoran


8. The first federal immigration law was passed in 1790. What was it called?
A. Naturalization Act
B. Chinese Exclusion Act
C. McCarran-Walter Act
D. Immigration Reform Act


9. What famous businessman was the son of an Irish father who came to the United States during the Great Hunger?
A. Marshall Field
B. Henry Ford
C. John Jacob Astor
D. Andrew Carnegie


10. Irish-born architect James Hoban designed what famous U.S. building?
A. U.S. Capitol
B. Empire State Building
C. The White House
D. St. Patrick’s Cathedral


Answers: 1-B, 2-A, 3-C, 4-A, 5-A, 6-D, 7-C, 8-A, 9-B, 10-C







Patrick Maloney is chief operating officer of the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio. He wrote this for Inside Sources

Be Kind - The Little Old Lady In The Bookstore

I work in a decent sized, local, indie bookstore. It’s a great job 99% of the time and a lot of our customers are pretty neat people. Any who, middle of the day this little old lady comes up. She’s lovably kooky. She effuses how much she loves the store and how she wishes she could spend more time in it but her husband is waiting in the car ‘OH! I BETTER BUY HIM SOME CHOCOLATE!’ She piles a bunch of art supplies on the counter and then stops and tells me how my bangs are beautiful and remind her of the ocean (‘Wooooosh’ she says, making a wave gesture with her hand.

Ok, I think to myself. Awesomely happy, weird little old ladies are my favorite kind of customer. They’re thrilled about everything and they’re comfortably bananas. I can have a good time with this one. So we chat and it’s nice.

Then this kid, who’s been up my counter a few times to gather his school textbooks, comes up in line behind her (we’re connected to a major university in the city so we have a lot of harried students pass through). She turns around to him and, out of nowhere, demands that he put his textbooks on the counter. He’s confused but she explains that she’s going to buy his textbooks.

He goes sheetrock white. He refuses and adamantly insists that she can’t do that. It’s like, $400 worth of textbooks. She, this tiny old woman, boldly takes them out of his hands, throws them on the counter and turns to me with an intense stare and tells me to put them on her bill. The kid at this point is practically in tears. He’s confused and shocked and grateful. Then she turns to him and says ‘you need chocolate.’ She starts grabbing handfuls of chocolates and putting them in her pile.

He keeps asking her ‘why are you doing this?’ She responds ‘Do you like Harry Potter?’ and throws a copy of the new Cursed Child on the pile too.

Finally she’s done and I ring her up for a crazy amount of money. She pays and asks me to please give the kid a few bags for his stuff. While I’m bagging up her merchandise the kid hugs her. We’re both telling her how amazing she is and what an awesome thing she’s done. She turns to both of us and says probably one of the most profound, unscripted things I’ve ever had someone say:

‘It’s important to be kind. You can’t know all the times that you’ve hurt people in tiny, significant ways. It’s easy to be cruel without meaning to be. There’s nothing you can do about that. But you can choose to be kind. Be kind.’

The kid thanks her again and leaves. I tell her again how awesome she is. She’s staring out the door after him and says to me: ‘My son is a homeless meth addict. I don’t know what I did. I see that boy and I see the man my son could have been if someone had chosen to be kind to him at just the right time.’

I’ve bagged up all her stuff and at this point am super awkward and feel like I should say something but I don’t know what. Then she turns to me and says: ‘I wish I could have bangs like that but my darn hair is just too curly.’ And leaves. And that is the story of the best customer I’ve ever had. Be kind to somebody today.

You never know how your actions may effect others around you, so you might as well be kind to all.

By Christine Turel

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