She wouldn’t make it on love island Oh my lord what a woman (not a bad book actually) That cow… i hated her in secondary school and I still hate her. 'Year like no other' - priest helps house studentsĪ priest in Athlone has said he was tempted to contact the army due to the accommodation 'emergency situation' in the town. A life, not that long ago, in which the cloth for clothing had to be spun yourself, in which tea (in Peig’s parents’ time), or sugar (during the war), was a rare luxury, and in which one prayed, regularly, that your husband, brother or son would make it back from fishing trips alive. An Ireland half-pagan, half-Christian, in which people like Peig rarely if ever left the place they were born, and in which the loss of children, to emigration or death, was a regular occurrence. Both offer a painstakingly preserved record of an Ireland mostly lost now. Her first memoir, Peig, was introduced to the school curriculum in the 1960s, and was apparently so despised that her photograph was ripped from the book’s cover, stuck on classroom walls and used for target practice.īut don’t let that put you off. €19.95Many Irish Times readers will have come across the Blasket Islands seanchaí Peig Sayers before - some, no doubt, against their will.
Book Review: These forgotten aspects of Ireland’s history and culture are what make understanding of traditional storytellers not only curious but essential