San Francisco is known for it's cultural diversity which is great because with all the different cultures there are that many more reasons for celebration!According to one internet source the first Irish contingent to arrive in the West Coast was not as most imagine during the great famine of 1740-41 but during the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century when many left Ireland due to the Penal laws.
By 1870 the population of San Francisco had grown to 100,000, one third of whom were Irish and one in every three Irishmen at this time owned real estate. Today, according to another internet source, the San Francisco area boasts around 100,000 Irish expatriates.
And today t'is St. Patrick's Day on which it's long been a tradition to close off Front Street between California & Sacramento for a spirited celebration of the patron saint of Ireland or whatever it is you want to celebrate.
And the luckiest of us get to celebrate the festivities from the vantage point and the comfort of the Peacock Construction offices from which this photo was taken. In addition to performing great tenant improvement work in the San Francisco area for more than a quarter century, Peacock knows how to throw a smashing party!
In addition to luminous Irish literary contributions the likes of Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and William Butler Yeats, the Irish have contributed greatly to the musical arts as evidenced in this video feature the Corrs and The Chieftains.
Sláinte!
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