Life on the Blasket Isles

Twenty Years A-Growing by Maurice O'Sullivan

Mar 8, 2009 Jackie Patrick

Twenty Years A-Growing provides an interesting insight into the lifestyle of the inhabitants of the Blasket Islands before they migrated to other lands.

Maurice tells the story of his halcyon childhood, growing up in the early years of the twentieth century on the remote Blasket Islands which are situated off the South-West coast of Ireland. He spends his days at one with nature, catching peewit and thrushes from crevices in the cliffs, fishing mackerel from the sea and hunting rabbits. The lives of the Island inhabitants are simple; enjoying story-telling, conversation and smoking the pipe together. There is a strong sense of community and intimacy.

The Beautiful Seascape of the Blasket Islands

The reader feels that he, too, is there enjoying the roar of the waves, the smell of the salt and the sight of the steep, dizzy cliffs. The descriptions are atmospheric as Maurice explores the mysterious coastline full of crevices with its myriad of sea colours. The smell of the ferns, the spurts and whirls of foam and the abundance of sea birds allows the reader to appreciate nature in that desolate area off Ireland's Dingle Peninsula.

Irish Folklore and Superstition

The pages are full of Irish folklore and superstition with thought provoking snippets such as ‘If you want praise die, if you want blame marry’ and 'it is not right to take a short road with the coffin to the house of the dead nor yet with the corpse to the grave'. There are incidences of fairies and ghosts of the dead.

Translated from the Irish Language

The book has been sympathetically translated from the Irish so that through the text, the reader gains a strong sense of the traditions and lifestyle of the day and can truly empathize with the Irish culture and setting. The direct language is rich in oaths and asseverations. In Maurice's day only Irish was spoken and little English was known.

Dwindling Population on the Blasket Islands

The lifestyle on the Blasket Islands is a dying one. The young people are leaving, usually emigrating to America. Maurice, also leaves and joins the Civic Guard in Dublin. As he begins to broaden his horizons, the reader sees the world through his inexperienced eyes. His return visit to the Blasket Islands two years later, identifies the changes that a dwindling population brings. So many of the young people have emigrated. His is a way of life that belongs to the past. The depopulation and decay had devastated his island, the Great Blasket.

(Maurice's way of life has now completely vanished as the inhabitants of the Blasket Islands were eventually evacuated soon after the second World War.)

Twenty Years A-Growing by Maurice O’Sullivan was first published by Oxford University Press in 1953 and later reissued in 1983 and 2000 (ISBN 0192813250). The book was written for the entertainment of his friends and his own pleasure. Shortly after the book was written, Maurice left the Civic Guard and settled in Connemamara. He was drowned bathing in 1950.

The copyright of the article Life on the Blasket Isles in World Literatures is owned by Jackie Patrick. Permission to republish Life on the Blasket Isles in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.