Seals on the Great Blasket Island

We managed to get to the main Blasket Island today but we were on limited time – about two and a half hours. Had we been aware that they were sailing today, we could have got an earlier boat. Getting to the island is an adventure. There are no easy landing places and you must put on a life jacket and get in a dingy to reach the boat or the shore.

The time constraint meant that we were unable to walk over to the other side of the island to see puffins. I have been told that there is more chance of seeing them on the shores of the smaller islands, so we may attempt one of the longer sightseeing trips. There are no boats tomorrow and Thursday due to rough seas but Friday is a possibility.

Whilst on the island, I spent some time talking to a lady called Sue Redican. She is the co-author of ‘The Blasket Island Guide’. Sue is staying the summer in a small stone hut and she let me look around. Very cosy and well protected from the elements. She isn’t alone on the island as there are people working on some of the old properties.

There are no permanent residents on the Great Blasket Island but there is evidence of human inhabitation stretching back to prehistoric times. The population reached a peak of 176 in 1916 but declined until the island was abandoned in 1954. Electricity and running water never reached the Blaskets.