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The Islands
Although now uninhabited, the Blasket Islands were
once home to a thriving community, cut off from the
rest of Ireland by the two miles of sea forming the
Blasket Sound. |
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The Blasket Islands |
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All supplies had to be carried
by boat, and in the days when the only means of
transport was a canvas covered curragh or naomhóg, the
islanders were sometimes
marooned for weeks at a time, especially in the stormy
winter months.
Numbers dwindled over the years as emigration took its
toll, but the final decision to evacuate the island
came when the turf supply (the only source of fuel on
the island) became scarce, and the
last
remaining islanders left the Great Blasket in
1953.
Aided by
Government grants, the last inhabitants
of the
island were
re-settled on the mainland, mostly in the parish of Dunquin. From their new home, the islanders could
still look across the stormy Blasket Sound towards the
little islands that held so many memories for them. |
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The
Islanders
As a
Gaelic-speaking community, away from the
influence of the rest of the country, the islands
had gained a reputation for refinement of language
that attracted scholars to their shores in the
summer months.
In
the early years of the 20th century, some of these visitors, such as
Carl Marstrander, George Thompson, Brian O'Kelly
and Robin Flower, persuaded a few of the islanders
to write their autobiographies as a record of
island life.
The first to do so was Tomás Ó
Criomhtháin in 1929, followed in 1936 by Péig
Sayers. Péig dictated her book to her son Mícheál,
to whom she dictated her story
because, although she had spoken Irish all her
life, she had only been taught to read and write
in the English language.
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Tomás
Ó Criomhtháin,
Péig Sayers and
Muirís
Ó Súilleabháin
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Ó Criomhtháin's book, The
Islandman (An tOileánach), and Péig's autobiography,
(Péig,
A Scéal Féin), became classics of Irish
literature. Muirís
Ó Súilleabháin, who later
left the island to join the Gardaí,
was persuaded by George Thompson to write his
life story, entitled Twenty
Years A-Growing (Fiche Bliain ag Fás). This became a
best-seller, translated into several different
languages. Other islanders
followed suit: Tomás's son Seán Ó
Criomhtháin wrote A Day in Our
Life (Lá dar Saol); his wife Eibhlís wrote a
volume of letters entitled Letters from the Great Blasket,
while Péig's son
Mícheál Ó Guithín, was the author of A
Pity Youth Does Not Last. These, together with
books and papers by the visiting scholars, give a
fascinating insight into the experiences, joys and
sorrows of an island community whose way of life
has now disappeared for ever. |
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The Grave of Tomás
Ó Criomhtháin, "An
tOileánach" |
Tomás's Grave
Tomás
Ó Criomhtháin died in 1937 at the age of 83
and is buried in the churchyard at Dunquin.
Inscribed
on his headstone are the words "Ná bheidh ar léithéidí
arís ann", a quotation from The Islandman, translated
literally as "There will not be those like us
again". |
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The Great Blasket Today
Although there is evidence of prehistoric dwellings
in the exposed western parts of the island, the
historical village was built on the side of the
island facing the mainland. The little houses huddle
against the hillside for shelter, with their gable
walls facing the sea.
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The
village |
Apart from a couple maintained for
use by summer visitors, all the houses have now fallen
into ruins.
These photographs were taken in the summer
of 2003, but each winter storm causes more damage and
one day there may be nothing left but piles of stones
and the traces of pathways. |
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The island fields |
Island Fields
The island fields, once carefully cultivated and
fertilised with seaweed from the shore, are now
grazed by a few sheep. |
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The Childrens' Graveyard |
The Childrens' Graveyard
Overlooking the White Strand, this is the last resting place
of island children who died in infancy. |
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Tomás Ó Criomhtháin's
house |
Tomás's House
Tomás describes in The
Islandman how he built this house with his own
hands, a few years after his marriage. |
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Flint Guheen's house |
The Guithín House
This is the house of Flint
Guithín, husband of Péig Sayers.
When Péig
and Flint first married, they had to share this tiny
house with the whole Guithín family. |
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Péig's House |
Péig's New House
This is the new house at the
top of the village, where Péig lived in later years. |
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Muirís Ó Súilleabháin's House |
Muirís Ó Súilleabháin's House
This is the house where
Muirís Ó Súilleabháin (author of Twenty Years
A-Growing) lived with his grandfather, before
leaving to join the Gárda Síochána (police).
He later married and was
posted to Connemara, where he died tragically in a
drowning accident. |
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The King's house |
The King's House
All that remains of the
King's house is a single bedroom. |
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The Island School |
The School
The building on the right is the schoolhouse, with the teacher's house next door,
a little further up the hillside. |
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The Island Harbour |
The Harbour
The new harbour was built in 1910 and was once a busy
scene where fishermen landed with their catch and
boats left for the mainland to buy essential
supplies.
Now a party of tourists climb down to meet the
high-speed cruiser that will take them back to Dingle
after a day spent on the island. |
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