{{Short description|Wilderness in Missouri, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox protected area | name = Irish Wilderness | iucn_category = Ib | iucn_ref = <ref>[https://www.protectedplanet.net/4444331 Protected Area Profile for Irish Wilderness] from the World Database on Protected Areas. Retrieved May 2, 2023.</ref> | image = Irish Wilderness.jpg | image_caption = Irish Wilderness, June 2010 | map = Missouri#USA | relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in Missouri##Location in United States | location = Oregon County, Missouri, United States | nearest_city = Fremont, Missouri | coordinates = {{coord|36|43|51|N|91|10|30|W|region:US|display=inline, title}} | area_acre = 16,277 | established = {{Start date|1984|5|21}} <ref name="wild-law">{{cite web|title=Irish Wilderness - Applicable Wilderness Law(s) - Public Law 98-289|url=http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=265&tab=Wilderness%20Laws|website=Wilderness Connect|access-date=22 May 2017}}</ref> | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | governing_body = U.S. Forest Service }}
The '''Irish Wilderness''' is a {{convert|16227|acre|km2|0|adj=on}} wilderness area in the U.S. State of Missouri. The U.S. Congress designated it a wilderness in 1984. The Irish Wilderness is located within the Eleven Point Ranger District of the Mark Twain National Forest, {{convert|10|mi|km|0}} northeast of Alton, Missouri. The Irish Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas protected and preserved in Missouri.
Hiking and horseback riding are popular on the White's Creek Trail, an 18.6 miles trail throughout the wilderness. Attractions include White's Creek Cave (temporarily gated to protect endangered bats), Fiddler and Bliss Springs, traces of old tramway railroads, and overlooks of the Eleven Point River. The karst topography of the area creates very scenic views along this trail. Wildlife present include black bear, mountain lion, whitetail deer, timber rattlesnakes, turkey, and bald eagles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=265&tab=Wilderness%20Laws|title=Wilderness.net - Irish Wilderness - Laws Affecting This Area|website=Wilderness.net|language=EN-US|access-date=22 May 2017}}</ref>
== History == The Irish Wilderness was historically a settlement of Irish immigrants in Oregon and Ripley Counties founded in 1858 by an Irish Catholic Priest, John Joseph Hogan. The settlement was wiped out during the American Civil War and has remained a wilderness ever since.
=== The Settlers === The settlers of the Irish Wilderness came from St. Louis, which had a high influx of Irish immigrants in the 1840s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/planning/cultural-resources/preservation-plan/Part-I-Peopling-St-Louis.cfm|title=Part I: Peopling St. Louis|website=stlouis-mo.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-10-25}}</ref> The Irish immigrants in St. Louis were discriminated against, and were largely employed by the railroad and mining industries.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The St. Louis Irish: An Unmatched Celtic Community|last=Faherty|first=William Barnaby|publisher=Missouri Historical Society Press|year=2001|location=Kansas City}}</ref> Bishop John Joseph Hogan saw the potential for the immigrants to have their own land, to farm and settle in families.<ref>Michael C. O’Laughlin, ''Missouri Irish: The Original History of the Irish in Missouri,'' 2nd ed. (Kansas City, Missouri: Irish Genealogical Foundation, 2007).</ref> Some land in Oregon and Ripley Counties was bought and donated by a Reverend James Fox. In 1859, there were around forty families who began to settle in the wilderness, and more were on their way.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/OnTheMissionInMissouri|title=On the Mission in Missouri, 1857-1868|last=Hogan|first=John Joseph|date=1892|publisher=J. A. Heilman|pages=[https://archive.org/details/OnTheMissionInMissouri/page/n67 59]-60|language=en}}</ref> The settlement's western border was the Eleven Point River in Oregon County, from there extending east past the Current River in Ripley County, as far east as Doniphan, Missouri.<ref name=":0">Mike Crawford, ''Father Hogan’s 1859 Irish Wilderness Settlement'' (Doniphan, Missouri: ''The Prospect-News'').</ref>
=== Destruction of the Settlement === The settlement was in existence only from about 1859 through 1863.<ref name=":0" /> During the Civil War, the roads that crossed straight through the heart of the settlement, including the Old Bellevue (or Bellview) Road, made the settlers vulnerable to Union and Confederate troops, murderers and criminals.<ref name=":0" /> By the end of 1863, the settlement had been destroyed, and all settlers had fled or died. Union Major James Wilson was a factor in the destruction of the settlement. Jerry Ponder (1937-2005) is responsible for much of the research about the Civil War in the area of southern Missouri, especially Ripley County.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/ozarkswatch/ow404i.htm|title=OzarksWatch|website=thelibrary.org|access-date=2018-10-25}}</ref>
== See also == * Bell Mountain Wilderness * Devils Backbone Wilderness * Hercules-Glades Wilderness * Paddy Creek Wilderness * Piney Creek Wilderness * Rockpile Mountain Wilderness
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/marktwain/ranger_districts/doniphan/Irish_Wilderness_Country.pdf History of Irish Creek Wilderness PDF] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121001112822/http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&wname=Irish Wilderness.net] * [http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?z=15&n=4073086&e=661763&s=50&size=l&u=7&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25 TopoQuest map] * [http://beautifulozarks.com/mystery-of-the-irish-wilderness/ Mystery of the Irish Wilderness book]
{{Protected Areas of Missouri}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Protected areas of Oregon County, Missouri Category:Wilderness areas of Missouri Category:Mark Twain National Forest Category:Protected areas established in 1984