The Blasket Islands: Next Parish America

By Joan Stagles and Ray Stagles

Book Overview

An illustrated history of the life, traditions and customs of an isolated community that has now disappeared. The book traces the fate of the Basket people and the slow erosion of their culture to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0862789737
• ISBN13: 9780862789732
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: O'Brien Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

a very useful resource...

...for anyone interested in the Great Blasket and the lifestyle of its inhabitants. (Topics covered include population trends over time, the field system and its origin, and life for the islanders during the Great Famine.) A nice complement to the first-person accounts provided by Tomas O'Crohan, Peig Sayers, and others. Some great photos as well.

Breathtaking

I don't know if you ever heard of The Great Blasket. (...) You didn't, didn't you? Anyway: this - or rather: An Blascaod Mór - is the name of the largest of the Blaskets, a small group of Irish islands a few miles west of the Dingle peninsula, near Dunquin and Ballyferriter. A magical place - in the early eighties, my wife Jaane and I spent several wonderful holidays there. On one of those occasions, we were lucky enough to meet mr. Ray Stagles in person: an aimiable, interesting elderly gentlemen, who camped in a deserted cow shed close to the guesthouse we were staying in. At the time, there was no gas or electricity (and no roads, and no radio, and no tv, and no ...) on the island, so after dark all we could do was light a fire and tell each other stories; very appropriate, in this place with its long tradition of storytellers. Mr. Stagles was great at it. He probably isn't around anymore, but at least something of his warm spirit, his fondness of stories, his essence, can be found in the book he and his wife Joan wrote. A delight to read. But maybe I am prejudiced. Unfortunately, visiting the Great Blasket is not really an option nowadays, I'm afraid. I read somewhere the guesthouse was closed. However, there is a regular ferry service bow, so I wonder if that old magical atmosphere still can be found there - probably it was blown away by huge waves of tourists. Or maybe it isn't. I just don't know, for I haven't been there since 1985. We always have been afraid to return there, for Jaane and I would HATE to see or memories spoiled by harsh, modern reality. And of course, there always is this book - the best book in my Blasket library.