An old woman's reflections / Peig Sayers, translated from the Irish by Séamus Ennis, and introduced by W.R. Rodgers.
By: Sayers, Peig.
Contributor(s): Ennis, Seamus
.
Material type: 
BookPublisher: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1978Description: xiv,133p : 1map, 1port ; 20cm + pbk.ISBN: 0192812394; 9780192812391.Uniform titles: Machtnamh seana mhná. English Subject(s): Sayers, Peig, 1873-1958 | Storytellers -- Ireland -- Biography | Biography | Biography & non-fiction prose | Biography: historical, political & military | Social & cultural history | Local history | Ireland | 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899 | 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999 | European history | History | Blasket Islands (Ireland) -- Social life and customs | Blasket Islands (Ireland) -- HistoryDDC classification: 941.96 SAY Summary: Storytelling kept alive the myths, legends, and history of the Blasket Islands. Peig Sayers, the queen of Gaelic storytellers, recounts her life, recalling the events and her simple philosophy.
| Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General lending | MTU Kerry North Campus Library First Floor Main | 941.96 SAY (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 38888000120042 |
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Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Storytelling kept alive the myths, legends and history of the Blasket Islands. In her old age, Peig Sayers, recounted her life to her son who recorded the tale in this book. She recalls the events of her life and her simple philosophy in a moving poetic style. Such everyday tasks as collecting turf for roots, catching and eating seals, and preparing for a wake are depicted alongside such momentous events as drownings at sea, pilgrimages, and the spread of the news of the Easter uprising in 1916. There were 'clouds of sorrow', but helping to lift them was the friendship she found in the community, which 'was like a little rose in the wilderness'. The Blasket Islands are three miles off Irelands Dingle Peninsula. Until their evacuation just after the Second World War, the lives of the 150 or so Blasket Islanders had remained unchanged for centuries. A rich oral tradition of story-telling, poetry, and folktales kept alive the legends and history of the islands, and has made their literature famous throughout the world. The 7 Blasket Island books published by OUP contain memoirs and reminiscences from within this literary tradition, evoking a way of life which has now vanished.
This translation originally published: 1962. - Translation of: 'Machtnamh seana mhná'. Dublin : Oifig an tSoláthair, 1939.
Storytelling kept alive the myths, legends, and history of the Blasket Islands. Peig Sayers, the queen of Gaelic storytellers, recounts her life, recalling the events and her simple philosophy.
Translated from the Irish.
Table of contents provided by Syndetics
- Introduction (p. vii)
- Chapter 1 A Pity how Youth goes (p. 1)
- Chapter 2 St. Kathleen's Pilgrimage; an Old Woman from Ventry; and Other Matters (p. 5)
- Chapter 3 Red Tommy and Margaret O'Brien (p. 14)
- Chapter 4 The Old Woman who Wronged her Son (p. 24)
- Chapter 5 A Man who was Clean in the Sight of People, but Unclean in the Sight of God (p. 29)
- Chapter 6 A Woman who Forsook her Husband; a Fox and a Hen; and Other Matters (p. 32)
- Chapter 7 The Snail-Trick; Tommy Griffin's Death; a Wake (p. 42)
- Chapter 8 A Boat-Load of Turf brought from Iverogh during a Gale of Wind (p. 48)
- Chapter 9 The Story of Betty Kelly's Son and his Bright Love (p. 56)
- Chapter 10 Wethers' Well Pilgrimage; a Pagan and the Wethers; the Overcoat (p. 65)
- Chapter 11 How the Fish was Stolen from Old Kate and how Herself ate some of it (p. 81)
- Chapter 12 An Ass, a Bag of Potatoes, and Geese; Mackerel Shoaling (p. 86)
- Chapter 13 A Milk-House in Little Island; Nance Daly and Nora Keaveney (p. 94)
- Chapter 14 The Quarrel about Hens in Dunquin (p. 102)
- Chapter 15 Martin Monday' a Gaelic Speaker from Mexico (p. 108)
- Chapter 16 The News of the 1916 Revolution: the Black-and-Tans' Visit (p. 113)
- Chapter 17 I am Seeking the Widows' Pension; I am in a Motor-Car (p. 121)
- Chapter 18 The Last, Chapter (p. 128)