A SPECIAL REPORT: ST. PATRICK’S DAY

Sun ‘n’ Shamrocks

The Irish community in Los Angeles may pale in comparison to Eastern cities, where St. Patrick’s Day is a major holiday each March 17. Still, the Emerald Isle is well-represented in the Southland. According to the 1990 census, 238,264 residents of the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys are part-Irish.

Staying Put

The East’s larger Irish-American communities are a product of history and geography, says professor James P. Allen of Cal State Northridge. Fleeing poverty and starvation, immigrants in the 1800s “piled up in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago,” Allen said. Others had come in the 1700s and ended up in places like Pennsylvania and the Carolinas.

Emerald Embrace

The Valley’s wee few from the Emerald Isle know where to go for a taste of home: Ireland’s 32. The pub on Burbank Boulevard in Van Nuys has been around for 35 years, passed from one Irish owner to another. Proprietor Siobhan Mullen is pictured above.