The Blasket Islands are a group of islands off the west coast of Ireland, forming part of County Kerry. They were inhabited until 1954 by a completely Irish speaking population. Many of the descendants currently live in Springfield, Massachusetts and some former residents still live on the Dingle peninsula, within sight of their former home.
The islanders were the subject of much anthropological and linguistic study around the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries and, thanks partly to outside encouragement, a number of books were written by islanders that record much of the islands' traditions and way of life. These include An tOileánach (The Islandman) by Tomás Ó Criomhthain , Peig by Peig Sayers and Fiche Blian ag Fás (Twenty Years a Growing) by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin .
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