Before Saint Patrick’s Day becomes too distant a memory, we should take note of how the Emerald Isle fares this year. And it fares splendidly, thanks to some free market reforms made after the 2008 financial crisis.

Ireland’s economy grew nearly 8 percent in 2015, compared to the United States’ meager growth of 2 percent.

“Ireland’s economy grew by 7.8 percent last year, making it the fastest growing economy in the Europe Union for the second successive year after growth accelerated sharply in the final three months of the year,” Reuters reported. “The surge in activity in 2015 represented the fastest pace of growth in 15 years and meant Ireland’s economy grew faster than China’s and expanded at more than five times the euro zone average.”

The reasons are clear: The Irish government worked to make markets more free.

“The Irish economy had gone through acute and painful contractions during the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent recession,” the Heritage Foundation reported. “The Celtic Tiger almost went bankrupt. Credit for the notable turn-around and ongoing recovery goes to the conscientious policy choices the Irish government has made in downsizing a bloated public sector, reducing the budget deficit, regaining fiscal health, and firmly adhering to polices to promote economic freedom and entrepreneurial competitiveness.”

Heritage pointed to its annual Index of Economic Freedom, a ranking it compiles based on four categories: the rule of law (which includes property rights), limited government, regulatory efficiency and open markets.

Ireland has risen to No. 8 in the world on the Index.

“The Irish economy has made impressive progress over the past three years,” the Index explained. “Undertaking politically difficult reform measures, including sharp cuts in public-sector wages and restructuring of the banking sector, Ireland has regained its fiscal health and become the first country to exit a European Union bailout. Its economy is now one of the fastest-growing in the eurozone.”

Some notable elements include the country’s low corporate tax rate (which maxes out at 12.8 percent, compared to America’s 35 percent) and the personal income tax, which has a top rate of 40 percent – about the same as the U.S.

“Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has joined in the praise, saying in a recent report that the Irish recovery remains strong and the economy is ‘starting to fire on all cylinders,'” Heritage noted.

Is there a lesson here for the United States?

“Over the course of the last decade, America has slipped precipitously from the ranks of the world’s 10 freest economies,” Heritage said. “The United States, once one of the world’s pre-eminent practitioners of economic freedom, now has a lot to learn – or, more accurately, re-learn – from other countries. Undeniably, Ireland seems to be one of them.”

The U.S. is now ranked No. 11 in world.

“Americans continue to lose economic freedom,” it explained. “Ratings for labor freedom, business freedom, and fiscal freedom have flagged notably, and the regulatory burden is increasingly costly.”

We could surely use some of the luck of the Irish.