We love to anthropomorphise the landscape — that is, to give human definition to an inanimate object.

IT’S commonplace nowadays to hear concerns about the impact of large numbers of visitors on wild places, writes Donal Hickey.

A Tipperary family’s collection of photos offers a glimpse into life a century ago, writes John G Dwyer.

SOME islands are synonymous with writers: JM Synge with Inis Meáin; The Great Blasket with Tomás Ó Criomhthain.

A campaign is under way and funding is to be sought for public toilets in the most westerly point in the EU.

FOR much longer than millennia, islands have been a source of intrigue, writes Dan MacCarthy. Someone gazes out from the mainland wondering: “What is out there?”

He boldly drove where no car drove before and in doing so, unwittingly shifted the limelight from Skellig Michael to An Blascaod Mór.

SEPTEMBER 27 brought the advent of butterflies, the first fall or hatch we’ve seen this butterfly-less summer. 

Is it possible that your correspondent has come across a colony of mining bees of a species hitherto foreign to our shores? Unlikely!

Just beyond the breaking surf at the White Strand on the Great Blasket island, seals were standing up in the water to get a better look at us humans. 

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

Filmmaker Simon Hambrook tells Sharon Ní Chonchuir how a hippie upbringing off the Kerry coast has become a source of creativity

In 1948, newspapers dubbed Gearóid Cheaist Ó Catháin the ‘loneliest boy in the world’: he was the sole child on the Blaskets, and now is the only surviving evacuee of 1953-54, says Áilín Quinlan.

There are concerns that access to an historic Kerry island visited by thousands of people each year may be restricted unless urgent repairs are carried out to a mainland pier.

BLASKET ISLAND VISITOR CENTRE WALK

The oldest surviving Blasket islander has told how he longs to return to his long-lost former island home to live out the rest of his days.

MIKE CARNEY describes his birthplace as the ‘’most beautiful place on earth’’.

The ruins of an old schoolhouse on the historic Great Blasket Island are soon expected to be in state ownership.

A new book on the social history of the Great Blasket Island contains photographs taken by The Cork Examiner of the evacuation of the island almost 60 years ago.

An exhibition of rare photographs is offering a glimpse of life on the Blasket Islands and other parts of the west coast in the late 19th century.

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.

A PILOT survey of Killarney’s multi-million euro tourism industry may be a model for similar studies in other Irish destinations.

EFFORTS to convert the Irish-speaking residents of the Great Blasket Island to Protestantism will be among the subjects to be discussed at the annual Blasket Commemoration, in Dunquin, Co Kerry, this weekend.

INISVICKILLANE, one of the Blasket islands, is generally known for its association with ex-Taoiseach Charlie Haughey who bought it as a holiday retreat.

THE worst fears people had for wildlife on the Great Blasket Island have been realised, following confirmation that deadly mink have appeared on the island, off the Dingle Peninsula.

Donal Hickey on protecting wildlife on the Blaskets.

A DECISION by An Bord Pleanála to grant planning permission for a cafe on the Great Blasket Island opens the way for the purchase of the island by the Government.

THE possible arrival of rats on the Great Blasket Island could have “devastating consequences” for seabird colonies there, a BirdWatch Ireland expert warned.

WHEN the sun shines you could be looking on the Greek islands and the Aegean, and even when Irish skies are overcast there’s something magical about Slea Head and the Blasket Islands.

LONG-RUNNING plans to provide a cafe and other services on Great Blasket island will be the subject of a Bord Pleanála hearing in Dingle next month.

A TORTUOUS saga surrounding Government plans to buy the Great Blasket Island is set to continue even further, it emerged at the weekend.

A LONG-RUNNING plan by the Government to buy the Great Blasket island has run into difficulties yet again.

A DECISION by Kerry County Council to grant planning permission for a cafe on the Great Blasket opens the way for the state’s purchase of the island.

OWNERS of the historic Great Blasket island in Kerry are understood to be on the brink of a purchase agreement with the Government, though the granting of planning permission for development on the island is still a key issue.

A RARE picture of Eamon de Valera in unfamiliar garb while visiting the Great Blasket in 1947 is one of the fascinating photographs in a new book that gives insights into life in other days in the Dingle Peninsula.

A NEW film may go some way towards restoring the seal as a loved and esteemed creature in Ireland.

A TRADITIONAL sea-faring craft closely identified with western coastal communities is enjoying a new lease of life.

THERE’S a flicker of hope that the long-running saga surrounding plans by the Government to purchase the Great Blasket Island may be slowly grinding to an end.

IT’S the time of year when many people explore the shoreline, cagily wet their toes in the incoming tide, more daringly breast the white-fringed waves, or simply stroll along our beaches.

THE principle landowner on the Great Blasket Island says he will not accept today’s deadline for agreement on the sale of the island to the Office of Public Works.

THE long-awaited purchase by the State of Great Blasket Island is to go ahead this year, the Government announced yesterday.