But the people had the Irish, and good Irish too, and they spoke it amongst themselves. It was against the law, and you would be beat if you used it. The miracle is it survived at all! As “The Tailor” (Tim Buckley from Kilgarvan) observes in Eric Cross’ “The Tailor and Ansty” (a book which was banned when it was first published!) “All the schooling was in English. This is hardly surprising when you consider how under British rule, for several centuries, the language and religion were banned, discouraged and sent underground. Their own language though had been passed down orally, with their stories and poems. From what I gather, a few of the islanders (and bear in mind that Peig came from Dunquin on the mainland and married into the island), learnt a little English during brief periods when there was a school on the island. According to the census records of 19, Peig, or “Margaret Guiheen” as you’ll find her, could both read and write, but this seems not to have been the case. Reading Peig’s book (translated into English I hasten to add) “An Old Woman’s Reflections”, which she dictated to her son, Micheál Guiheen (Sayers being her maiden name), gave me an appetite for more knowledge of the Blasket Islanders.
I knew, from various friends, that Peig Sayers, a famous story-teller from the Great Blasket Island, was compulsory reading, in Irish, for generations of school girls here.
Isn’t it queer that I have lived here for a quarter of a century and yet I had never even driven around Slea Head until last year, when an old school friend Ann visited me? I was so pleased with the journey that I made it again soon afterwards when my sister Susan came to stay! On that occasion we stopped for lunch in Dingle and I bought “Peig”. I have never been to the Blasket Islands! Although I hope to very soon.