Dr Flower spent a considerable amount of time between 1910 and 1930 living amongst the 150 inhabitants of the Great Blasket island. He tells of the adversities and frugality of the Gaelic-speaking people, of the folk tales and the stories of ghosts and fairies and poets. The Blasket Islands are three miles off Irelands Dingle Peninsula. Until their evacuation just after the Second World War, the lives of the 150 or so Blasket Islanders had remained unchanged for centuries. A rich oral tradition of story-telling, poetry, and folktales kept alive the legends andhistory of the islands, and has made their literature famous throughout the world. The 7 Blasket Island books published by OUP contain memoirs and reminiscences from within this literary tradition, evoking a way of life which has now vanished.