Pet O’Connell goes hill walking in Dingle, and brushes up on her Irish language skills while she’s there.

Two projects in Co Kerry and one in Co Cork are among seven nationally to benefit from funding of €350,000 being provided by the Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht.

Even on the day of their departure from the Great Blasket Island for the last time 60 years ago, the final 22 inhabitants fell victim to the whims of the Atlantic — the constant presence that had shaped the rhythm of their lives.

A remote island outpost, renowned for its peace and captivating beauty, has been a magnet for photographers for well over a century.

An “alarming” drop in the number of Irish speakers in a Kerry Gaeltacht parish which produced some of the best known writers in Irish is causing concern.

IT was a sad and cold Christmas Eve. The year was 1953, and the 22 souls who still remained on Great Blasket Island were leaving on the ferry the next morning.

THROUGH my work-room window, I look out at the mist hanging over the field beyond the beeches and my imaginings of an Indian summer are dissolved in water-vapour so dense the horses are like spectres walking riderless through cannon-smoke, lost in a region between heaven and hell.

HITLER mesmerised Germany and people followed him in their millions.

Donal Hickey on protecting wildlife on the Blaskets.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern will have to demonstrate the strength of his newfound ideological beliefs today as the Government crucially sets out its spending priorities for the second half of its tenure in power.

Edited transcript of exchanges between Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Dáil Éireann yesterday: