The sunsets over Slea Head were beautiful! The farm buildings in this picture were across the road from the house, and one of the farmer’s fields was directly behind the house. When the windows were open, we could hear the sheep and cows.
This one is a little blurry because we enlarged it quite a bit. The house we stayed in is on the far left of the picture. You can see all the sheep on the hill behind the house.
We visited the Blasket Island Center, which was a museum about the history of Great Blasket Island. The next day we took a boat trip across to visit the island. No one has lived there since 1957, but it has been turned into a living history museum.
Nora loved the boat ride!
It was tricky getting out of the boat without getting our shoes wet.
Picnic on the beach; the black spots in the water behind them are seals!
We had a picnic on the beach while watching the seals swim. They were so close!
Some of the original buildings are intact, others are in ruins.
Looking back at Slea Head on the mainland.
Inside one of the small buildings on the island, which housed 10 people. The cottage was built into the side of the hill and had a sloping floor so that water could drain downhill when it rained. Respiratory illness was common due to the dampness and mold in the houses.
The climb back down to the dock. The tour guide said that the residents of the island lost several people (mostly children) to their death by falling from the rocks!
Hard to imagine how difficult life on the island must have been! If it weren’t for some of the last residents writing their memoirs of life here on Great Blasket, the rest of the world would never have learned about it.
Brogans Across the Pond 