Island Cross-Talk: Pages From a Diary

by Tomás Ó Criomhthainn, Tim Enright (Translator)

The island of the Great Blasket and its remote fishing community lies three miles of the Kerry coast of Ireland, at the westernmost tip of Europe. Virtually unknown before this century, it is now famous throughout the world as the source of a rich and unique flowering of literature, a tradition as old as the Gaelic language itself. Now again available, these seven volumes--all translated from the original Gaelic--offer engaging accounts of a now-vanished lifestyle, a group of stories that will charm readers of Irish literature, those moved by a nostagia for "simpler times," and anyone who enjoys a good tale well told.

Originally published in 1928, this was the first book to come out of the Blasket Islands. In these pages from his diary, O'Crohan jotted down snatches of conversation, anecdotes, descriptions of the landscape and the sea. These unadorned, yet vivid sketches capture and preserve the essence of a way of life which was rapidly receding into the past even as he wrote.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ireland, History, Irish Literature

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Tomás Ó Criomhthain (anglicised as Tomas O'Crohan or Thomas O'Crohan; 1856 - 1937) was a native of the Irish-speaking Great Blasket Island, 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) off the coast of the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland. He wrote two books, Allagar na h-Inise (Island Cross-Talk) written over the period 1918-23 and published in 1928, and An t-Oileánach (The Islandman), completed in 1923 and published in 1929. Both have been translated into English. The 2012 translation by Garry Bannister and David Sowby is to date the only unabridged version available in English (earlier versions were redacted being considered too earthy).

Reviews

[Pat Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this in a thrift store and since I had seen the Blaskets from Ireland's Southwest shore I thought I would give it a try. It is a diary of Tomas O'Crohan. For the most of it, a page is an entry with a month and year label on it. It tells a clear picture of the difficult life these people had that inhabited the Blaskets, how poor they were, and what they did to continue living. That means all the stuff they did for food, fuel, and shelter. One of the highlights is the way they speak. You have to read it to fully appreciate it. One example. "The harsh weather of Cuckoo Time is over, Uncle" said Seamus to Seamaisin. "It is wisha," Seamaisin replied, and may it never return in full strength again. Many a man is sent to the Poorhouse by that selfsame month and, if I dare mention it, to the Madhouse too." The word 'Wisha' is a term of endearment, kind of like darlin or honey. There are many others too.It's a short book, about 200 pages. The people show a constant courage and criticism of themselves. they also have a witty way of arguing, sometime just to pass the time. I enjoyed it.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tomas O’Crohan was one of a small group of people living on Great Blasket when assorted visitors “discovered “ them in the later 19th century. They were especially interesting to linguists and scholars who wanted to study their “pure” Gaelic. O’Crohan was one of the only islanders who could also write in Gaelic. One of the visitors managed to encourage him to keep a sort of diary of daily musings on life on Blasket and O’Crohan lived long enough to see Island Cross-Talk published..

My copy is a translation but retains the feel of the old ways. Today the book is probably much more interesting as a window into the lives of these tough people who were soon to vanish completely. Their island finally became too unpopulated and life too difficult, so the remaining people were moved off the island in 1953.

O’Crohan introduces various neighbors, vignettes of daily life, stories of tough luck, isolation, community and humor. His story is one of a kind and fascinating. It’s also a touch melancholy. He doesn’t whine although if you read more about island history you discover he lost a wife, an infant, a son fell from the cliffs and a daughter left for America. In spite of all the reader comes away from his stories thinking of the jokers, the small parties and the midwives getting a dram in the morning after a long night staying up to be sure a newborn would survive—the parting glass!

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating little book, which includes excerpts from the author's diary written while living on the Blaskets, small islands off the western coast of Ireland, in the early 20th century. The book takes a bit of "work" by the reader, at least at the beginning, until the reader gets fairly accustomed to the cadence of the speech and more familiar with a few of the terms (many of which are explained via footnotes). The beauty of the islands and of the ocean, the challenges of the difficult weather and the struggles to survive, by all the residents, and the power of friendship and community all play roles in the events recorded by Tomas O'Crohan, the island's "poet and storyteller." It's safe to say that few, if any, of us have dealt with adversity as have these islanders. Again, a fascinating read of a world that probably no longer exists.

[Nadine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brevity and concise expression are hallmarks of Irish writing and this is one of the finest examples. Each little story has a bird's eye view of the island, a rock in the Atlantic where people scrape a living from it and the ocean surrounding it. The work was written in the early 1920s when life was made more difficult by the mainland political problems. It needs to be read and re-read.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing from the Blasket Islands of Ireland. So good to read about a different way of life that became extinct in 1954.