A new book reveals the story of the King of the Blasket

The King, a man of sound judgement and good English, was once chosen by fellow islanders to oversee major fishing expeditions, settle disputes and even offer marital advice, says Ailin Quinlan

THERE’S something magical about the notion of a king of a small, windswept island — especially when that island is just off the Kerry coast. Even a cursory look around the less-than-palatial ruins on the Great Blasket makes it hard to imagine a king could ever have lived there. But he did.

He was Pádraig Ó Catháin, ‘Peats Mhicí’, who served the islanders for 25 years, until his death in 1929. He is now the subject of a fascinating book by two US authors, the son-in-law of the oldest surviving Blasket islander and the great-great-granddaughter of the king. Tall, articulate, with a strong voice and a dominating physicality, the king was a forceful presence on the island — there is even speculation that if the king had had a successor, the evacuation of the Blaskets might have been averted.