Irish Americans are residents or citizens of the United States who have Ireland ancestry. The term may be used in subtle distinction with Scots-Irish, following the old Catholic-Protestant split.
Many Irish settlers moved to America in the 18th and 19th centuries during the Potato Famine and throughout the Industrial Revolution which threw large numbers of poor Irish folk off their land. Their descendants retain a strong sense of their Irish heritage.
The most Irish American town in the United States is Milton, Massachusetts.
The Irish-American way of life has been chronicled in the modern media, most notably in movies such as The Brothers McMullen and on television in series such as Ryan's Hope.