Central Ohio's Irish roots run deep

Catch up quick: The Irish have been involved in Columbus since the very beginning.

• John Kerr, one of our founders and our second mayor, was born in Ireland.
• Irish descendant John Brickell built the area's first cabin and was famously held captive by the Lenape Tribe.
• Lucas Sullivant, who founded Franklinton and became an influential regional figure, had Irish lineage.

In the mid-19th century, Ireland's Great Famine brought an influx to Central Ohio, where Franklinton offered a friendly settlement.

• The Irish helped build the Ohio & Erie Canal, railroads and many of the area's brick buildings.
• Immigrants built the historic Saint Patrick Church, now 175 years old and our second-oldest Catholic church.
• Naghten Street — now partly Nationwide Boulevard — became known as "Irish Broadway."

Columbus still has deep Irish roots.

• Residents in every Central Ohio county reported Irish ancestry at a higher rate than the national average of 9.4%, per 2020-24 average census data.

By the numbers: Franklin is Ohio's most Irish county by sheer numbers, with about 150,000 people reporting Irish heritage, or 11.2% of the population.

• Percentages are highest in Madison (14.8%), Delaware (14.6%) and Pickaway (14.4%) counties.

Fun fact: Franklin County Clerk of Courts Maryellen O'Shaughnessy comes from a long line of influential Central Ohio figures of Irish descent.

• The family's Ohio roots trace back to Jeremiah Patrick O'Shaughnessy, who went from ditch-digger and Erie Canal worker to Columbus' superintendent of waterworks.

Our most Irish city

No city embraces Irish heritage like Dublin.

Flashback: Modern Dublin was settled in the early 1800s and named by site surveyor John Shields, born in Dublin, Ireland.

• Despite its name and current branding, few of the city's first inhabitants were Irish.

Context: It was a small community for more than 150 years.

• Fewer than 1,000 people lived there until about 1950, and the suburb didn't reach 4,000 residents until around 1981.
• A massive population increase began in the 1980s amid broader growth, the development of Muirfield Village Golf Club and following the construction of I-270.

The intrigue: The city is perhaps best known for the Dublin Irish Festival, which began in 1988 and now draws 100,000 visitors each summer.

Yes, but: Irish pride is on display all year long.

• Its city logo is a shamrock and the high schools have mascots Shamrocks, Irish and Celtic Warriors.
• Even its fire hydrants are green.

Today, Dublin is one of Central Ohio's fastest growing and most prosperous communities, and is a "Friendship City" with its namesake in Ireland.