Would you stay on this Island?
By BittyBiddy
@BittyBiddy (2903)
Ireland
January 4, 2007 4:08pm CST
An Blascaoid Mor - the largest of the Blasket Islands, just off the coast of Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland. It is uninhabited having been abandoned in 1953 when the last 22 inhabitants left. Covered in furze and heather, its ruins visible on the approach by boat from Dingle, the island boasts a beautiful little beach where seals bask daily. Perfect for bird watchers and a haven of peace and solitude. Ancestors of the villagers who once lived there have now renovated some of the houses on the island and these are used as summer homes or hostels.
The island has no electricity. The only way of getting there is by ferry. The Atlantic winds can be cold and harsh.
Would you stay in a place like this? Would you see it as a good holiday? Should the Irish Government turn this island into a specialist tourist area?
11 people like this
66 responses
@Alexandria37 (5717)
• Ireland
4 Jan 07
My parents took me there in the 1950’s just before the islands were abandoned. I can’t remember very much about it, but I can remember going on donkey rides and it was the first time that I tasted periwinkles. I doubt very much that I would like to live there as it is too far from the mainland and I would feel pretty lonely. I think they are trying to get permission for a national park there, so maybe if that ever happens I may just go on a visit.
4 people like this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
4 Jan 07
Wow! I've never spoken to anyone who was actually there while it was inhabited. I've only read stories about it. I'm sure a national park would be a great idea. I'd love to be able to stay on the island myself, but just for a night or two.
1 person likes this
@lelabrown (217)
• United States
5 Jan 07
WOW, I'd love to go there,even just for a few days, or longer. I'm so sick of the city;too dirty
Lela
1 person likes this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
4 Jan 07
Yes, it is beautiful and so peaceful. It's been lying desolate for so long now.
2 people like this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
4 Jan 07
Ewww no. It's not the sort of place you'd put a casino on.
There was supposed to be an image with my post. I'll try to add one now.
@teenal (1400)
• Dublin, Ireland
5 Jan 07
I wouldnt even want to go there or live there. My idea of a holiday nowdays is lap of luxury and the deserted windswept island wouldnt appeal to me on any level. Im sure that it could be opened for nature lovers, bird watchers etc and might do well. Or a better idea would be to surrounded it with a 60 foot invincable wire fence and build a prison on it to house all the criminals. Although the way things are going nowdays one island wouldnt be enough.
@Alexandria37 (5717)
• Ireland
5 Jan 07
That's really funny and such a great idea. A bit like Alcatraz. Do you think an bord pleanala will approve a prison?
@Eskimo (2315)
•
4 Jan 07
Yes I would, sounds like a great place to get away from it all. No electricity, therefore no computers, no internet, probably no mobile phones, especially when the batteries run down. I've always fancied staying on a desert island (need to be alone as my wife wouldn't go). if its on the Atlantic Coast then the next stop west must be America.
I assume that there won't be any cars either, so it will be very quiet & peaceful, just what is needed as a retreat from a busy lifestyle. There are some islands off the coast of Scotland which are very similar.
2 people like this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
4 Jan 07
No, there are no cars. The only animals you'll see are rabbits now. In the old days they used to bring cows back and forth. They used a currach to ferry the animals over and back. They had to tie the legs of the animal and lie him down in the bottom of the boat.
1 person likes this
@tictac714 (975)
• United States
4 Jan 07
How come they all abandoned it in 1953? That makes it sound creepy.
Personally I wouldn't want to vacation somewhere cold and windy because I like it warm, so it wouldn't be for me anyway.
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
5 Jan 07
Well, if you visit, then visit in the summer when it's warm. The end of August is probably the best time because most of the tourists have returned home at that stage.
@tictac714 (975)
• United States
5 Jan 07
Oh I see. It does look very beautiful in your picture. Actually all pictures I've ever seen of Ireland were very beautiful, I think I would like to see it one day.
1 person likes this
@peaceful (3294)
• United States
5 Jan 07
I would love to stay in a place like this...
The way the I feel about this Earth is well known. My love of Nature and Natural places is unquestionable and my heart weighs heavily because these places are rapidly disappearing...
I would beg the Irish Government to leave this place as it is, and allow persons to visit and camp there on their own- for some, a holiday like this is essentially Life-Restoring and the peace and solitude of a place like this could be seen as a Cure.
Call me a nut and a crazy for loving the Earth as I do...
But at least you feel secure in the knowlege that I really do worship the ground you walk on! :)
1 person likes this
@peaceful (3294)
• United States
5 Jan 07
Perhaps that was the one... we Irish news so early in the morning, I probably thought I was dreaming the whole thing! :)
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
5 Jan 07
I didn't hear that it was up for sale. Charlie Haughey owned one of the islands at one stage. Maybe the family put that up for sale?
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
5 Jan 07
Oooooh, yes I could stay there it sounds so great with the slow life and no tv etc. Could catch up on reading and with supplies it would be a great hopefully 1 month long vacation. Love seals and birds, a camera would be a nice thing to have along too. Would be a good idea to make it a tourist area and make it available to no one every in the future for other than touristing!!!
@babykay (2131)
• Ireland
6 Jan 07
I think it should be protected as a part of our history, definitey. Isn't that where Peig (the subject of a book that is an integral part of the Irish school curriculum) lived? If there are seals and stuff there, perhaps a nature reserve. I would like to stay there but would be really nervous if there is hardly any other people or electricity!
1 person likes this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
6 Jan 07
Peig Sayers......Oh how we LOVED her (not) when we were in school. It's funny how when you're older you look back at these things and realise you should have listened more in class.
@floresalex23 (97)
• Philippines
5 Jan 07
I wouldn't stay in a place like that but I would love to see or visit it someday. I'm really curious about the place, why was it abandoned? why did the people left?
I think the Irish Government should do something about that place. They should make it productive.
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
5 Jan 07
They had to leave. It was too difficult to live there. The population had reduced to 22 people because all the young people had either emmigrated to America or gone to the mainland (Ireland) to marry/work. In bad weather boats can't land there. It's too rocky and the only landing point is at the base of a slippy hill.
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
5 Jan 07
It sounds like heaven right now. Unfortunately, when governments start making places like this official anything, heaven turns into a tourist trap....I'd like to stay BEFORE any specialiizing starts. I'll bring a generator and clean the litter from camp grounds before I leave OK?
1 person likes this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
5 Jan 07
Camp grounds? How does parking your tent in the sand dunes sound? There are no facilities on the island. So bring your portapotty too. :D
@jajatisalgoe (646)
• Belgium
5 Jan 07
How big is this island? Cause 22 inhabitants that where left isn't that much! So if their is enough space you could make a little festival out of it like they do in france, (sort of, the eurockéennees). When it's dark, it could be fenomenal to be there..
@mari61960 (4893)
• United States
5 Jan 07
Oh I would love to live on an island like that. Getting back to the way they lived in the "olden days" Unfortuanately for me..I need electricity. I have sleep apnea and need it for my cpap machine. But if it wasn't for that...I would be really looking into living in an isolated area like a pioneer...lol
I think that they should make it a Wildlife Sanctuary. We need to protect all the land we can for animals and birds. We keep taking over all thieir land and they are running out of habitat.
I'm so envious of you..I long to see Ireland. I hope to get there in the next year or two.
1 person likes this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
5 Jan 07
I hope that you get to see it. If you need any tips or advice, don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you all for the replies. It's interesting to see that so many of us couldn't live without our home comforts. I don't think I could spend more than a night there myself.
@micheller (1365)
• United States
5 Jan 07
I think this island would be a great vacation island. Just hearing about the seals on the little beach make me want to visit it.
1 person likes this
@Datingtheplayer (661)
• United States
5 Jan 07
i would definately stay there... it seems so relaxing!
Why should the irish government get it though, i think it should be kept i the hands of the ancestors of the original inabitants.
1 person likes this
@onesiobhan (1327)
• Canada
5 Jan 07
I would absolutely love something like this.
They'd have to restrict the number of visitors though, to make sure that it stayed as unspoiled as possible.
1 person likes this
@ukchriss (2097)
•
5 Jan 07
I would love to go to an island like this, get back to nature. Take a camera and just sit and watch the sea and wild life. It does look very beautiful, quiet & peaceful in your picture.
Making it into a national park would be a great idea as would the prison, dont think many people would escape. lol
@worldholdon (9)
• India
5 Jan 07
Take me there... man would be awsome to stay ther with jus a lil company. Jungle life eh. a lil hut n not much to worry bout. say whose in...
