Bádóirí an Bhlascaoid Teo. Blasket Island Ferries/Eco-Ventures
Dunquin Harbour Booking Office: (066) 9156422
Dingle Marina Booking Office: 066) 9151344
Web: www.blasketisland.com
Email: info@blasketisland.com
Booking is Advised for ferry
Booking is Essential for Eco-Tour
A brief history
The most Westerly lands in Europe are a unique group of islands off the coast of Kerry know as “The Blaskets”.
The name “Blasket” is a mystery and nobody knows how or why the group of Islands came to be known as “The Blaskets”. One suggestion is that it originates from the Norse word “brasker” which means “a dangerous place”
The population of the island varied over the hundreds of years but in 1840 the population was thought to be approximately 150 people. Sadly after the great famine of 1846-1850 that number had 
declined drastically.
Like most villages in Ireland after the famine, the population began to grow and by 1916 the population in the Great Blasket Island had reached its peak of 176 men, women, and children. Tragically less than forty years on, the Great Blasket Island had been abandoned by her people.
There is no doubt that the Blasket Islanders led a life strewn with hardship, danger, isolation, and 
sacrifice. It was a constant battle for life on what was little more than a wind swept rock. These hardy people eked a life through fishing supplemented with a ridge of potatoes, a patch of oats and (if lucky enough) a cow
All families kept a few grazing sheep on the steep hills of the island, which was considered commonage, and during the summer months turf was cut and dried in preparation of the harsh winter
One of the most important inhabitants of the Islands was the donkey. It play a very intricate part in island life, drawing turf home from the hill, and kelp from the beach but strangely enough it was never harnessed for ploughing the land. There are still donkeys living on the island to this day
From the early 1920’s until the late 1930’s the Great Blasket Island produced writers of such talent and calibre that today, their works are considered classics.
No other community of similar size has produced such a wealth of rich literature. Peig Sayers, Muiris
O’Suilleabhain, and Tomas o’Criomhthain wrote in their native language, of living on the very edge of the world, surrounded by water, forgotten by all. Due to the nature of the isolation of the island, the spoken word there was pure and rich therefore attracted the attention of irish scholars worldwide
The remnants of the village on An Blascaod Mór
We would recommend reading "The Blasket Islands, next parish America" by Joan and Ray Stagles
(O'Brien press)
© 2010 Bádóirí an Bhlascaoid Teo. |