Axios Columbus

March 17, 2026
π Happy St. Patrick's Day, Columbus. Who's headed to the parade?
βοΈ Today's weather: No luck for the Irish here. Cloudy and cold, with a high around 30.
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Today's newsletter is 1,070 words β a 4-minute read.
1 big thing: Central Ohio's Irish roots run deep
St. Patrick's Day is for everyone, but Columbus has plenty of Irish ties beyond green beer.
Why it matters: Irish immigrants helped settle Central Ohio, and their influence can still be felt centuries later.
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 β now partly Nationwide Boulevard β 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.
2. π 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.
3. Nutshells: Your local news roundup
π¬οΈ Weekend winds left hundreds of thousands without power in what AEP Ohio president Marc Reitter called a "historic storm." Most outages have been resolved. (Dispatch)
β½οΈ Columbus will host nine Olympic soccer matches in 2028 β eight men's and women's group stage matches and a men's quarterfinal. (Crew)
πͺ A proposed Ohio bill would set a statewide standard for rounding coins to the nearest nickel amid the nationwide penny shortage. (Statehouse News Bureau)
π Columbus Monthly profiled controversial local journalist D.J. Byrnes, aka The Rooster.
- His efforts recently went viral after an OSU faculty member attacked a cameraman. (Columbus Monthly)
πΊ BrewDog's U.S. operations β including its remaining Columbus-area breweries and bars β was acquired by New York-based Tilray Brands. (Columbus Business First π)
π₯ Pickle Palooza is coming to Huntington Park this summer. Tickets sold through a "priority list" go on sale March 26. (WCMH-TV)
4. πΊ Watch: An interview with Anduril's founder
Anduril Industries has an increasingly influential role in U.S. national security as it builds one of Ohio's largest development projects, and its founder Palmer Luckey sat down for a new episode of "The Axios Show."
Why it matters: The autonomous weapons manufacturer's $1 billion, 5-million-square-foot production facility near Rickenbacker airport promises more than 4,000 jobs and $530 million in payroll in exchange for substantial tax credits.
Driving the news: In the conversation, Palmer Luckey discusses the U.S. holding an "extremely small" lead on China in the AI race and the two nations' competition in a variety of industries.
Other key points Luckey laid out during the almost hour-long interview:
- β’οΈ He would "definitely" build nuclear weapons: "I would build fission weapons. I would build fusion weapons. Nuclear weapons have been one of the most stabilizing forces in history βΒ ever."
- πͺ The Defense Department and its programs are being run differently today than in prior administrations.
- πͺ¨ He's serious about fighting an underground war: "Anduril has working prototypes of subterranean systems that can deliver a variety of kinetic, electronic and other effects."
- ποΈ The U.S. lacks the "political will" and popular consensus to put boots on the ground in Iran after decades of "adventures" in the Middle East.
- π You don't "need to be a larger than life character" to run a defense business.
- π₯ The Pentagon-Anthropic feud boils down to policies and personalities.
Go deeper: Anduril's Palmer Luckey talks AI, nukes and Iran on "The Axios Show"
5. π 1 scavenger hunt to go
The Blue Jackets remain in the playoff hunt, but fans can participate in their own, less nerve-racking hunt.
Catch up quick: For the team's 25th anniversary, giant pucks are popping up across Franklin County.
- Fans can virtually check in at different locations to win prizes for the rest of the season.
- Checking in at all 12 puts them in a drawing for free tickets to 2026's opening night.
The latest: This week's puck is on Front Street.
- Check in before Friday and you could win a limited edition silver puck, two tickets to Saturday's anniversary game or autographed jerseys.
State of play: With 16 games left to play, the Jackets are just outside the final wild card spot.
- They take on the division-leading Carolina Hurricanes tonight at home. Tickets.

Thanks to Tyler Buchanan for editing today's newsletter.
Our picks:
π Alissa joined the Pickle Palooza priority list β pickles and pop-punk are a perfect combo!
π Andrew enjoyed The Oscars and didn't do too bad with his picks.
π€ Tyler is filling out his brackets.
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