A Dark Day On The Blaskets

In the summer of 1909 Eibhlin Nic Niocaill (Eileen Nicholls) arrived on the Dingle Peninsula in the extreme south-west of Ireland. One of the finest scholars in the new national movement, she had come from Dublin to study the West Kerry dialect of Irish. Here she explored the countryside and travelled to the Great Blasket, spending an intense, mystical month on the island, meeting the inhabitants, whose lifestyle had changed little in 200 years. But on 13 August she and 17-year-old Donal O Criomhthain both drowned. ""A wonderful piece of drama-documentary... entertaining and captivating. It's an evocative story, a portrait of a young woman and her times, and an engrossing description of a beautiful place at a turning point in its history.""-- Ireland Magazine. ""Fascinating.""--Sunday Tribune