On an Irish Island

by Kanigel, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780307269591
• ISBN10: 0307269590
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-02-07
• Publisher: Knopf

Summary

A sparkling history of the remarkable Great Blasket Island--an Irish outpost nearly untouched by time in the first half of the twentieth century--its most noteworthy citizens, and the adventurous men and women who visited it and were inspired by it. In a love letter to a vanished way of life, Robert Kanigel tells us the story of this wildly beautiful island off the west coast of Ireland, notable during the early twentieth century for the vivid communal life of its residents and the unadulterated Irish they spoke. With the Irish language rapidly vanishing throughout the rest of Ireland, the Great Blasket became a magnet for scholars and writers, linguists and playwrights, drawn there during the Gaelic renaissance to study and to learn. As we follow these visitors--among them John Millington Synge, author of the classic drama The Playboy of the Western World-we become immersed both in the fascinating culture of the 150 or so islanders who, tucked away from the rest of civilization, kept alive an entire country's past, and in the newcomers and island dwellers alike who would bring the island's remarkable story to the larger world.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. 3
The West [1905]	p. 1
The Fine Flower of Their Speech [1907]	p. 28
Brian's Chair [1917]	p. 50
Nice Boy with a Camera [1923]	p. 67
Inishvickillaun [1926]	p. 93
The Last Quiet Time [1929]	p. 111
Gorky's Peasants [1929]	p. 129
Interminable Procession [1929]	p. 144
Working at Irish [1932]	p. 153
Visitors, Strangers, Tourists, Friends [1937]	p. 180
A Green Irish Thread [1940]	p. 202
No Herb or Remedy [1946]	p. 212
The Bottom of the Garden [1950]	p. 229
A Dream of Youth	p. 242
Acknowledgements	p. 257
Notes	p. 261
Selected Bibliography	p. 293
Selected Bibliograpy in Irish	p. 307
Index	p. 309
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.