The Islandman - Tomas O'Crohan

Question 1

The West (Irish imagination)

Answer 1

• land of eternal youth
• there is a made-up island out to the west of Ireland (represents an ideal, has a place in mythology)
• mystical islands, spellbinding, unrestrained

Question 2

Irish language prevalency

Answer 2

• language has declined, the remaining Gaeltachts are in limited portions of the West
• Dublin was the seat of colonial power under British rule… going as far away as possible was seen as achieving ‘pure Irishness’

Question 3

Symbolism of Aran and Blasket islands

Answer 3

• with new nationalism and the Gaelic Revival, they were seen as Ireland’s rebirth
• similar to the American western frontier (always moving west, discovering)

Question 4

Irish writers with ties to West

Answer 4

• John Millington Synge
• WB Yeats
• Lady Gregory
• not poor people… didn’t truly live there

Question 5

Blasket Islands context

Answer 5

• westernmost point of Ireland
• evacuated in 1953/54, moved to Dunquin in Kerry
• was a very small community (struggled when hit by storms)
• NOW: marketed as rural, picturesque, the ultimate island experience… advertised as a holiday experience

Question 6

Blasket Island Literature

Answer 6

• “the West writes back”
• Tomas O’Crohan (Criomthain) and Peig Sayers
• for island population size of 200, the three famous writers produced over 20 books

Question 7

Tomas O Criomthain

Answer 7

• 1855-1937
• The Islander (and plenty more), was written in Irish and translated later
• he attended the small school on the island sporadically, was fairly literate in English
• visited by Gaelic League people (Brian O Ceallaigh, Padraig O Siochfhrada) and was seen as an authority, encouraged by them to write
• had family on the mainland and went to stay with them in his 40s, learned writing in Irish with great nieces and nephews

Question 8

Peig Sayers

Answer 8

• had a book put on the Irish syllabus for a while (quite dark)

Question 9

The Islandman translation

Answer 9

• Robin Flower, 1937
• saw the tale as a “frank” one that shared a vanishing mode of life… some slight othering
• worked off of a pared down version of the text
• censorship occurred to help present a pure Gaelic individual (avoiding awkward or sexual interactions)

Question 10

The Islander translation

Answer 10

• Bannister and Sowby, 2012
• used a complete and unabridged version of the text
• more detail, examples of scenes with “sexual” interactions

Question 11

Differing opinions on the text

Answer 11

• Flower: no literary effect within the writing, was delivered with ‘perfect frankness’ (i.e. lack of literary genius/talent)
• Irene Lucchitti: the work of a modern man artistically engaging with loss and change, labelled Tomas as a craftsman and aficionado (skilled, deliberate)

Question 12

Notes on chapter 1

Answer 12

• parents were hardworking, offered tough love
• some folklore possibly mixed in, but didn’t seem to have much romanticizing
• everyone on the island was like family (they had so little, had to rely on each other), offered a sense of community
• using what they had and living off the land (shipwrecks, sea catches)