Blasket Islands – A Kingdom of Stories

‘Every word Joan Stagles wrote about the Blaskets shines with a profound love of her subject. This is a wonderful book.’ Brendan Kennelly, Sunday Tribune

The beautiful, wild Blasket Islands off the coast of Kerry, now deserted, once sustained a thriving rural community. Dependent on one another for survival and entertainment, the islanders developed a rich culture of storytelling that produced many literary talents – including Tomás O’Crohan, Peig Sayers and Maurice O’Sullivan – and attracted scholars from all over the world.

In this seminal book, Joan and Ray Stagles trace the growth of the island community from its earliest recorded presence, through the Famine years, to the evacuation in 1953 and into modern times. Illustrated with wonderfully evocative photographs, Blasket Islands: A Kingdom of Stories paints a striking portrait of a lost people; ‘for the like of us will never be again’.