Oldest surviving islander dreams of return to Blaskets

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.

Micheál Ó Ceárna, 93, left the Kerry outpost in 1937 to seek a better future in Dublin, eventually settling with other emigrant islanders in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the US, where he lives to this day.

The father of four was instrumental in persuading the then taoiseach Éamon de Valera to evacuate the 22 remaining islanders from the increasingly desperate conditions they faced on their storm-ravaged island on Nov 17, 1953.