Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A special closeness to an island—combined with a knack for vivid storytelling—is
inspirational. From this simple but proud fishing/farming community came three writers
of international repute whose Gaelic works—basically tales of life on Great Blasket Is-
land—have been translated into many languages. You'll find
Peig
(by Peig Sayers) and
The Islandman
(Thomas O'Crohan) in shops everywhere. But the most readable and up-
beatis
Twenty Years A-Growing
(MauriceO'Sullivan),asomewhat-true,HuckFinn-esque
account of the author's childhood and adolescence and of island life as it was a hundred
years ago.
The island's café and hostel have closed down, and today Great Blasket is little more
than a ghost town overrun with rabbits on a peaceful, grassy, three-mile-long poem.
Getting to the Blasket Islands
From Dunquin (Dún Chaoin):
The 40-passenger Blasket Islands ferry runs hourly
from Dunquin, at the tip of Dingle Peninsula. In summer, it goes every hour between
10:30 and 16:30, depending on weather and demand (€25 round-trip, Easter-Sept, no
boats Oct-Easter, ferry tel. 066/915-6422 or 066/915-1344, mobile 087-231-6131,
