Pub crawlers who aren’t too buzzed on green beer this weekend will have some reading material to accompany their St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, as Toronto-based magazine Irish Connections Canada has hit the stands. Launched this past Thursday, the mag’s initial print run of 10,000 is available at Irish bars, culture clubs and retail locations across Canada, with about 550 combined copies also mailed to the Irish Cultural Society of Toronto and the Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce. It will be published three times per year.

‘It may seem counter-intuitive to be launching a new publication at this time,’ says owner and publisher, Eamonn O’Loghlin, in a release. ‘But…members of the [Irish] community are both highly influential as well as interested in reconnecting with elements of their heritage.’ According to StatsCan 2006, there are about 4.35 million people with a reported full or partial Irish heritage living in Canada – the country’s fourth largest ethnic group.

Currently the magazine is distributed for free, despite its cover price of $5.95, which is only to suggest its intrinsic value, says O’Loghlin, adding that initial advertising support has enabled him to cover the costs. The 100-page glossy is about 40% ads, he tells MiC, many of whom have a connection to Ireland tourism.

‘Certainly the Irish-Canadian business community would be our main focus,’ O’Loghlin says, regarding the advertisers they are courting. Irish Connections Canada‘s content includes a feature interview with John Furlong, the Irish Canadian CEO of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games; a new look at the Fenian Invasion of Canada in 1866; and ‘Brothers of the Airwaves,’ a perspective on four Irish Canadian radio show hosts.