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| What is the MidWest? For purposes of official definition, the "Midwestern United States" officially encompasses the following states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio. Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota are sometimes defined as part of the Midwestern United States. For an exceedingly dry review of what may or may not constitute the Midwest, see Wikipedia.org. What is often missed from an overview of definitions is this: the American Midwest holds a uniquely rich heritage and cultural diversity not found anywhere else in the world. It is, sadly, overlooked many times in favor of the more obvious. And generic popular culture is replacing our unique cultural heritage with something dreamed up somewhere else. MidWestIrish.com is dedicated to preserving our regional heritage as it relates to the Irish culture. It is my personal hope that this site will serve as an inspiration to others. And for purposes of MWI.com®, the Midwestern United States will simply be recognized as the heart of the United States of America — the foundation of this nation that some blithely refer to as "the flyover." That's my soapbox. Thanks for visiting. — the editor So, what MidWestIrish.com is all about? Since getting online in the late '90s, I've searched out Irish-inclined websites, looking for history, stories, folklore, geographical information, etc. And I noticed that while Irish sites included a lot of good information, Irish-American sites focused on New York City and Chicago and completely ignored the American heartland. Now, I know there were a lot of Irish immigrants (before, during and after the Victorian era) who did not settle in New York City or Chicago. And many of my ancestors were among them. So, I just kept looking for the type of Irish-American website that I wanted. A site that included hard facts, but was driven by real people and real stories. Folklore. The kind of information that isn't found in encyclopedias and newspapers. The kind of information that tells you about someone; what they thought and felt and not just that they lived and died. I couldn't find a site like that so last summer I decided to create it myself. And here it is: MidWestIrish.com. Thanks for visiting, Joshua Heston, editor |
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| Photo credit: Image sectioned from photo taken on 10/19/05, 9:33:44 am CST Peoria County, IL USA Title: Sassafras Photographer: Joshua Heston |
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| Photo credit: Image sectioned from photo taken on 5/28/06, 11:58:456 am CST Peoria County, IL USA — Title: Memorials Photographer: Joshua Heston |
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