<figure><figcaption>(SIU Press / SIU Press)</figcaption></figure>

Journey back Inside The Blanket Fort as we wrap up our interviews from The 40th Annual Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago, with Sean Farrell, coauthor of The Irish in Illinois.

Today, over a million people in Illinois claim Irish ancestry and celebrate their love for Ireland. In this concise narrative history, authors Mathieu W. Billings and Sean Farrell bring together both familiar and unheralded stories of the Irish in Illinois, highlighting the critical roles these immigrants and their descendants played in the settlement and the making of the Prairie State.

Short biographies and twenty-eight photographs vividly illustrate the significance and diversity of Irish contributions to Illinois. Billings and Farrell remind us of the countless ways Irish men and women have shaped the history and culture of the state.