MOUNT IRISH WILDERNESS, Nevada, and new WILDERNESS IN COUNTY MAYO

Some might ask if the "Irish Wilderness" is a geographic place - or an Irish state of mind? Our book Mystery of the Irish Wilderness explored the history of a real place in the Missouri Ozarks, once populated by real Irish immigrants seeking a new life, a place now a component of the National Wilderness system.

Come to find there are other Irish Wildernesses, like Mount Irish Wilderness in Nevada's Basin and Range: "a 28,274-acre parcel less than two hours’ drive north from Las Vegas, harbors the parched region’s most precious resource: water."

And in 2013, The Irish Department of Art, Heritage and Gaeltacht and Coillte signed a Memorandum of Understanding, creating the country's first wilderness area in the Nephin Beg Range of North West Mayo.  This is a project with a twist ... the plan is to "rewild" 4,400 hectares of land to provide "a dedicated wilderness of forest, mountain, bog, river and lakes in the Nephin Beg Range." Wild Nephin is a fascinating and ambitious project, it's "the first of its kind in Western Europe."

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD, photographed at Néifinn Fhiáin in North Co. Mayo with from Left to Right Mr. Jimmy Deenihan, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dennis Strong National Parks & wildlife Services, and Bill Murphy, Head of Recreation Coillte to mark the  signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Coillte and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht that designates 11,000 HA along the Nephin Mountain Range as Ireland’s first wilderness area. March 14, 2013
(Images released by Ken Wright Photography)