Book review: True discovery of the Blaskets

Lesley Bond's 'Blasket Bound' is a pleasure to read; it is a remarkable account of her discovery of what it means to be at peace with the world 

Lesley Bond in Dunquin, Co Kerry, overlooking the Blasket Islands, where she previously served as caretaker. Picture: Chani Anderson

• Blasket Bound
• Lesley Bond
• Gill Books, €18.99

Since they were abandoned by the last inhabitants in 1953, the Blasket Islands have become an icon of Irish culture. Each year thousands of tourists head for the main island, An Blascaod/Oileán Mór.

Some come just to walk around, others to take in the views of Ireland’s most westerly tip, and more want to trace the roots of the world famous literature that emerged from the Island during the 20th century.

Whether tourists come for the day or to stay overnight, almost everyone leaves satisfied with their experience. 

However, as TS Eliot wrote, these tourists “had the experience, but missed the meaning”— because the soul of the Blasket Islands cannot be understood on a day-trip, or a weekend, or even a weeklong stay.

The Blaskets reveal their persona as they have always done, in their own time and at their own pace.

Lesley Bond first visited An Blascaod Mór as a day-tripper. From her very first trip, she knew that she had missed something and that she would have to return. 

In early 2019 she saw an advert seeking two caretakers to manage the accommodation and cafe on an Blascaod Mór from April to October 2019.

She applied with her partner Gordon. They were successful, and in early April, after the almost obligatory delay for bad weather, the pair left the Dingle Pier to go into the island for six months. 

That phrase, ‘into the island’ (isteach san oileán) is a translation of the phrase used by the islanders for hundreds of years. 

The phrase would also prove a harbinger of what Bond was about to experience.

The next six months is the subject of her new book, Blasket Bound.

The early days on the island were about getting settled and getting used to the island. There were also three cottages to be prepared for visitors and the setting up of the cafe.

Bond’s observations about the island come thick and fast. 

She notes that days on the island could be measured by how the light moves; the sharp air of morning, the duller but warmer air of the afternoon, and the return of coolness as the evening approached.

Not surprisingly, weather dominated the island’s moods. 

Bond notes how she learned not to fear the change from sun to storm; rather to accept it as a defining feature of any given day.

When one looks across at an Oileán Mór from Dunquin it is easy to mistake it for a relic of a way of life that has gone forever.

However, as time slows down for Bond she discovers that this is far from reality. The island has its own life.

Whether it is the seals, who act as the island watchdogs, or the arrival of the Manx Shearwater from southern Argentina, she learns that the Island is always alive, and still behaves as it did long before the first humans arrived.

Bond’s time there has also given her a fresh understanding of the island’s most famous writers. 

Experiencing the island as they did, without electricity or running water, sharpened the intensity and meaning of their writing. 

She finds that Tomás Ó Criomhthain’s words endure. And, having seen Peig Sayers in this new light, she boldly states, “to continue writing about her as the most hated woman in Irish history feels lazy now.”

Blasket Bound is a pleasure to read. It is a remarkable account of Bond’s discovery of what it means to be at peace with the world. 

A discovery that will undoubtedly stand her in good stead for the rest of her life.

It is more than six years since Bond left an Oileán Mór. She admits that she needed this passing of time to allow the experience to ferment. 

Now that the fermentation process is complete, it is clear that for Lesley Bond the ‘meaning’ is no longer missing.

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