Q: I'm Irish, but for some reason I never made that connection.
A: I guess it's just another tradition that's more American than Irish. Like this website says, St Patrick's Day has become more American than Irish. The following is a direct quote from the web site: Corned Beef and Cabbage-Irish or American? Believe or not, corned beef is an American tradition, not an Irish one. Historically, Ireland is a very poor country (although quite prosperous now) and beef was a rarity on the dinner table. More access to beef, even to the poor, was available in the United States, and such the tradition of beef started in American Irish neighborhoods. Ironically, many of the Irish-borne immigrants that I have had the pleasure of meeting have never had corned beef until coming to America, and some even deny its existence on "the Isle of Eire".