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Seeking solitude after personal crisis, Anita Fennelly spent a summer alone on the Great Blasket Island. This is her story, written by candelight, of personal healing and recovery interwoven with the island stories, its people, places and wildlife. Anita weaves a tapestry of tales: ghost stories told by the fireside, stories of love and betrayal, stories celebrating womanhood. Ultimately, Anita's own story is one of survival and hope. Blasket Spirit reveals a timeless place where the souls of the past and present are inextricably linked with the emotional and physical struggles of island life.
A woman recovering after a personal crisis finds solace in the people and places of the Great Blasket Island, Ireland.
A tale as heartwarming and bright as the Emerald Isle itself. When a stranger from Dublin comes to his coastal village looking for a boat ride to the Great Blasket Island, Tom McBride isn’t anxious for the job. He has enough to handle, working the farm that will one day be his inheritance, and dealing with a contentious father who’s threatening to withhold it. The stranger is hard to refuse, though; he’s on a mission from the prime minister. Tom agrees to the trip, curious about the government’s interest in such a desolate spot. Rising from the sea like a mountain, the Great Blasket is a place of legends, its people mysterious and strange. Steering his uncle’s fishing boat towards ...
Mike Carney was born on the Great Blasket Island in 1920 in that unique, isolated Irish-speaking community. Mike left in 1937 to seek a better future in Dublin and eventually settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, with other former islanders. The death on the island of his younger brother set off a chain of events that led to its evacuation, in which Mike played a pivotal role. This is the story of his life and his efforts to promote Irish culture in America, to preserve the memory of The Great Blasket, to respect roots left behind and to set down roots in a new land. Written as Mike approached the age of 93, this memoir is probably the last of a long line of books written by Blasket Islanders. * Similar to: An Irish Navvy - the Diary of an Exile and The Hard Road to Klondike
The last King of the Great Blasket Island was Pádraig Ó Catháin, known as Peats Mhicí, who served for quarter of a century until his death in 1929. The King helped the islanders navigate through life and through national as well as international events, such as the 1916 Rising and the Great War. This book tells how he came to be King of the Great Blasket Island and how his personality and integrity shaped the role. This is the first account of the King's extraordinary life, written in collaboration with his descendants in the USA and Ireland. It tells the story of this unique man, his many contributions to the island and his extended legacy. • Also available: From the Great Blasket to America by Michael Carney and The Loneliest Boy in the World by Gearóid Cheaist Ó Catháin
Tomás Ó Criomhthain (1856–1937) is one of the giants of Irish-language literature. His best-known books, Allagar na hInise and An tOileánach, are acknowledged classics. But he was a highly unlikely author. He lived his entire life on the isolated and now-abandoned Great Blasket, in a house he built with his own hands using stones he found on the island. Likewise, he crafted a valuable literary heritage out of island life. With indefatigable persistence, he steadily built on his modest formal education, learning to read and write in Irish during middle age while simultaneously expanding his knowledge of literature and history. Scholarly visitors were impressed with Tomás's observations ...
From the earliest times people have pondered why we are here; philosophers and scientists continue to grapple with the question. For this compilation of wisdom and insights into what is truly important, Catherine Conlon tracked down people from varying walks of life, all with a deep connection to Ireland, for answers to life's crucial questions. Contributors include Maureen Gaffney, Chris Hadfield, Sr Stan, Colum McCann, Alice Taylor, Conor Pope and many others from the worlds of writing, politics, journalism, charity and more. This collection will inspire self-reflection and lead us to reconsider our notion of the real value of our lives.
Seeking solitude after personal crisis, Anita Fennelly spent a summer alone on the Great Blasket Island. This is her story, written by candelight, of personal healing and recovery interwoven with the island stories, its people, places and wildlife. Anita weaves a tapestry of tales: ghost stories told by the fireside, stories of love and betrayal, stories celebrating womanhood. Ultimately, Anita's own story is one of survival and hope. Blasket Spirit reveals a timeless place where the souls of the past and present are inextricably linked with the emotional and physical struggles of island life.