"The main criterion for the selection of articles and poems has been 'a personal and sensitive recording of emotion, observation, reflection, thought, or confrontation." (Dedication, v.1). The Iris was founded on November 4, 1971, to commemorate the 200th birthday anniversary of James Montgomery (1771-1854), the British journalist and poet who edited "The Sheffield Irish" for 31 years, and to perpetuate the memory of his humanitarian principles.