In the middle of the nineteenth century, a band of Irish immigrants came to Monroe County, Iowa, where the hills and trees reminded them of Ireland. They broke the land, made their homes, and built a church — a cathedral in the wilderness which stands today in the hamlet of Georgetown, Iowa. Father Leo R. Ward, born in Monroe County, tells the story of the Irish community of Georgetown, centering the tale around a child born in 1860 — a whild whose life intertwined with community and church.