View source for Blasket Islands

{{Short description|Uninhabited islands off the west coast of County Kerry, Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox islands
| name             = Blasket Islands
| native_name      = Na Blascaodaí
| native_name_link = Irish language
| native_name_lang = ga
| sobriquet        = <!-- or nickname -->
| image_name       = View over Dunquin towards Blasket Islands from slopes of Mount Eagle - geograph.org.uk - 2010861.jpg
| image_size       = 
| image_caption    = Blasket Islands as seen from the lower slopes of [[Mount Eagle (Ireland)|Mount Eagle]]
| image_alt        =
| map_image        = Blasket Islands.png
| map_caption      = Location map of the Blasket Islands
| location         = [[Atlantic Ocean]]
| coordinates      =
| archipelago      =
| total_islands    = 
| major_islands    = 6
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| elevation_m      = 346
| elevation_footnotes =
| highest_mount    = {{lang|ga|An Cró Mór}}
| Country_heading  =
| country          = [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]
| country_admin_divisions_title     = County
| country_admin_divisions           = [[County Kerry|Kerry]]
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}}

The '''Blasket Islands''' ({{langx|ga|Na Blascaodaí}}) are an uninhabited group of [[island]]s off the west coast of the [[Dingle Peninsula]] in [[County Kerry]], [[Ireland]]. The last island to hold a significant population, [[Great Blasket Island]], was abandoned in 1954 due to population decline and is best known for a number of Irish language writers who vividly described their way of life and who kept alive old Irish folk tales of the land.

== Name ==
The etymology of the name of the islands is uncertain, but it may be [[Old Norse]] in origin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Na Blascaodaí/The Blasket Islands |url=https://www.logainm.ie/ga/1411370 |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=Logainm |language=Irish}}</ref> It may have come from the word ''brasker'' meaning sharp reef of rock or dangerous place.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Flower |first=Robin |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.54946/mode/1up |title=The Western Island, or the Great Blasket |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1945 |pages=26}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Blasket Islands: History and Heritage |url=https://dingle-peninsula.ie/newsite/11-explore-the-dingle-peninsula/blasket-islands-na-blascaodai/53-the-blasket-islands-history-and-heritage.html |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=Dingle Peninsula}}</ref> The islands have also been called Ferriter's Islands.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Hitchcock 1855 385">{{Cite journal |last=Hitchcock |first=Richard |date=1855 |title=The Castles of Corkaguiny, County of Kerry. No. II |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25493672 |journal=Proceedings and Transactions of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=385 |jstor=25493672 |issn=0790-6358}}</ref> Topographer [[Charles Smith (topographer)|Charles Smith]] referred to Great Blasket, the largest of the group of islands, as Inishmore.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Charles |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=9HJbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA182&hl=en_GB&q=island |title=The Antient and Present State of the County of Kerry |date=1756 |publisher= |location=Dublin |pages=183 |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Replica Blasket Cottage.jpg|thumb|Replica of a traditional Blasket cottage in [[Dunquin]]]]
The earliest known reference to the habitation of the islands is from the late 16th century.<ref name=":0" /> However, the [[Norman-Irish]] {{lang|ga|Feiritéar}} (Ferriter) family who rented the islands from the [[Earl of Desmond]] since {{circa|1290}} maintained a castle, possibly at {{lang|ga|[[Rinn an Chaisleáin]]|italic=no}} on Great Blasket.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Timeline and Bibliography |url=https://www.blasket.ie/amline-agus-leabharliosta/ |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=The Great Blasket Centre and Island |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Hitchcock 1855 385"/> The islands were reported to have a population of "five or six families" in the mid-18th century.<ref name=":1" /> In the first half of the 19th century, the islands saw a rise in population due to tenants fleeing evictions in {{lang|ga|[[Dunquin|Dún Chaoin]]|italic=no}} by Lord Ventry.<ref name=":2" />

The islands were inhabited until 1954 by a completely [[Irish language|Irish]]-speaking population and today are part of the [[Gaeltacht]]. At its peak, the islands had 175 residents. The population declined to 22 by 1953. The government evacuated most of the remaining residents to the mainland on 17 November 1953 because of increasingly extreme winter weather that left the island's ageing population cut off from emergency services.<ref name="stagles">Stagles, Joan and Ray, ''The Blasket Islands: Next Parish America''. Dublin: O'Brien Press, 1980 (new edn. 1998).</ref> The evacuation was seen as necessary by both the Islanders and the government. The {{lang|ga|Ó&nbsp;Suilleabháin|italic=no}} family were reluctant to leave, and became the final family to depart [[Great Blasket Island]] in 1954.<ref>{{cite web |first=Sheila |last=Langan |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/blasket-islands-evacuated |title=On This Day: The Blasket Islands evacuation of 1953 |publisher=[[Irish Central]] |date=17 November 2018 |access-date=11 December 2018 }}</ref>

The islanders were the subject of much anthropological and linguistic study around the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries particularly from writers and linguists such as [[Robin Flower]], [[George Derwent Thomson]] and [[Kenneth H. Jackson]]. Due to their encouragement and that of others, a number of books were written by islanders that record much of the islands' traditions and way of life.<ref>{{cite book |last=Meehan |first=Cary |date=2004 |title=Sacred Ireland |url= |location=Somerset |publisher=Gothic Image Publications |page=562|isbn=0 906362 43 1 |access-date=}}</ref> These include  {{lang|ga|[[oldwikisource:An t-Oileánach|An tOileánach]]}} (''[[The Islandman]]'') and {{lang|ga|Allagar na hInise}} (''Island cross-talk'') by {{lang|ga|[[Tomás Ó Criomhthain]]|italic=no}}, ''Peig'' and {{lang|ga|Machnamh Seanamhná}} (''An Old Woman's Reflections'') by [[Peig Sayers]], {{lang|ga|Fiche Blian ag Fás}} (''Twenty Years A-Growing'') by {{lang|ga|[[Muiris Ó&nbsp;Súilleabháin]]|italic=no}} and ''Letters from the Great Blasket'' by {{lang|ga|Eilís Ní&nbsp;Shuilleabháin|italic=no}}.

The first teacher on the islands was Áine O’Donoghue, first sent over at the age of 19, and the great-great-grandmother of comedian and actor [[Aisling Bea]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002ch4t/who-do-you-think-you-are-series-22-5-aisling-bea |title=''Who Do You Think You Are?'' - Series 22: 5. Aisling Bea |language=en-GB |access-date=2025-05-20 |via=www.bbc.co.uk }}</ref> Áine was the mother-in-law of Irish freedom fighter and school teacher {{lang|ga|Pádraig Ó&nbsp;Briain|italics=no}}.

In 1974 politician [[Charles Haughey]] purchased [[Inishvickillane]] from the descendants of the {{lang|ga|Ó&nbsp;Dalaigh|italic=no}} family, who had lived on the island 70 years prior. As {{lang|ga|[[Taoiseach]]}}, Haughey used the island as a summer retreat and hosted many prominent visitors, including French President [[François Mitterrand]]. In 1989, he introduced legislation to turn the Blasket Islands into a national park, including powers of [[compulsory purchase order]].<ref>{{cite Irish legislation |year=1989 |date=7 June 1989 |num=11 |title={{lang|ga|An Blascaod Mór|italic=no|nocat=y}} National Historic Park Act, 1989 |access-date=2021-04-05 }}</ref> This was ruled unconstitutional by Justice Kimberley Budd in 1998.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Court rules Blasket Act is unconstitutional |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/court-rules-blasket-act-is-unconstitutional-1.137279 |access-date=2021-04-05 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |language=en }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Four win case over Haughey islands Act |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/four-win-case-over-haughey-islands-act-26197687.html |access-date=2021-04-05 |website=[[Irish Independent]] |language=en }}</ref>

The archipelago's westernmost island, [[Tearaght Island|Tearaght]], was inhabited by [[lighthouse keeper]]s until 1988, when the lighthouse was automated.<ref name="irishlights">{{cite web |url=http://www.commissionersofirishlights.com/cil/aids-to-navigation/lighthouses/inishtearaght.aspx |title=Inishtearaght |publisher=[[Commissioners of Irish Lights]] |access-date=19 September 2010 }}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Oileain_na_mBlascaod.png|alt=Map of the Blasket Islands as published in ''The Islandman'' by Tomás Ó Criomhthain|thumb|350x350px|Map of the Blasket Islands as published in ''The Islandman'' by Tomás Ó Criomhthain]]
The six principal Blasket islands, in order of largest to smallest, are:
* [[Great Blasket Island]] ({{lang|ga|An Blascaod Mór}})
* [[Inishtooskert]] ({{lang|ga|Inis Tuaisceart}}), site of an [[oratory (worship)|oratory]], crosses and {{lang|ga|[[clochán]]}} (beehive huts).
* [[Inishvickillane]] ({{lang|ga|Inis Mhic Uileáin}}), site of an oratory, [[monastic cell]] and crosses.<ref>Meehan, p. 563.</ref>
* [[Inis na Bró|Inishnabro]] ({{lang|ga|Inis na Bró}})
* [[Tearaght Island]] ({{lang|ga|An Tiaracht}})
* [[Beiginis|Beginish]] ({{lang|ga|Beiginis}})

==Environment==
The Blasket Islands are an important breeding site for [[grey seal]]s in Ireland and have at least 13 species of breeding seabird. The islands and the surrounding waters are designated by the European Environment Agency as a [[Natura 2000]] special area of conservation and five of the islands (not Great Blasket Island) are also designated as a special protected area.<ref>{{Natura 2000|num=IE0002172|desc=Blasket Islands SAC|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Natura 2000|num=IE0004008|desc=Blasket Islands SPA|access-date=8 October 2022|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> The islands have also been designated an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]] because they support breeding populations of several species of [[seabird]]s.<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url= https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/593 |title=Blasket Islands|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2024|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 2024-08-29}}</ref>

==Modern transport==
There is a ferry service that calls only to the Great Blasket and sails from [[Dunquin|Dún Chaoin]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/ferry-cancelled-after-man-becomes-stuck-2920529-Aug2016/|title=Ferry cancelled after man tried to drive down pier but became stuck}}</ref> This ferry service is mainly for day-trippers. People can also camp on the island overnight. Passengers are transferred to a [[Rigid inflatable boat|RIB]] (rigid inflatable boat) once the ferry gets close to the island, as there are no adequate landing facilities for a larger vessel.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Transshipping to the Great Blasket Island|url=https://www.greatblasketisland.net/boat-trips/transhipping/|access-date=2021-06-16|website=Great Blasket Island|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px">
File:Great Blasket (2019).jpg|[[Great Blasket]]
File:Tiny Cove on Beginish Island.jpg|[[Beiginis|Beginish]]
File:Inishnabro.jpg|[[Inis na Bró|Inishnabro]]
File:Inishvickillane.jpg|[[Inishvickillane]]
File:Tooskert.jpg|[[Inishtooskert]] 
File:Tearaght.jpg|[[Tearaght Island|Tearaght]] 
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141028173551/http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/blascaod/ The Blascaod Centre in Dún Chaoin]
*[http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/the-last-of-the-blasket-evacuees-we-weren-t-great-mixers-on-the-mainland-1.1831611 The last of the Blasket evacuees: ‘We weren’t great mixers on the mainland’]
*[http://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/news/evacuation-marks-end-of-an-era-as-last-families-leave-the-blaskets-27370752.html Evacuation marks end of an era as last families leave the Blaskets]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190910005004/http://www.blasketisland.com/ blasketisland.com]
{{Portal|Ireland|Islands}}
{{Blasket Islands}}
{{County Kerry}}
{{coord|52|05|21|N|10|32|49|W|region:IE_type:isle|display=title}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Blasket Islands| ]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Atlantic islands]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Special Protection Areas in the Republic of Ireland]]