Peig sayers autobiography of a facebook
•
Peig Sayers
"one of the greatest woman storytellers of recent times"
"Peig Sayers was born in Vicarstown, Dunquin, Co. Kerry in 1873. She was an Irish author and seanchaí. Her father, Tomás, was a storyteller and passed many stories on to Peig.
After leaving school at the age of 12, Peig went to work as a servant. Her plan was to join her friend Cáit in America but Cáit was unable to send Peig the price of the fare.
Peig got married to Pádraig Ó Guithín, who was from the Great Blasket Island, in 1892 and moved there with him. They had eleven children together, six of whom survived.
People would gather at Peig’s house in the evenings to listen to her stories in front of the fire. She would eventually dictate many folk stories and legend to Seosamh Ó Dálaigh of the Irish Folklore Commission.
Although Peig was illiterate in the Irish language, she dictated her biography to her son Micheál, who in turn sent it to Máire Ní Chinnéide. Máire was a schoolteacher from Dublin and she edited the manuscript. “Peig” was published in 1936. This book would be a very important book in Irish history and was required reading for many years in secondary schools in Ireland.
In 1942, Peig returned to her home of Dunquin where she lived until her death in ho
•
A classic of modern Gaelic literature.
"Near classic status."—Choice
"A fine, heartwarming book."—Publishers Weekly
"Her story is very Irish indeed, but so close to earth as to be universal. . . . An important part of Ireland's oral heritage, as well as a monument to an astonishing personality."—Eire Ireland
"Peig was brought up on the mainland, where she spent a life of servitude and hardship. She later moved to Great Blasket Island where she spent the next forty years—'a troubled and tormented life.' Much of the grief she suffered was over the death of four of her ten children, another was the torment of all-night vigils while her husband was out fishing. . . . Peig recounts a life of tragedy and joy in which whatever occurs is stoically endured, buoyed by the companionship of neighbors and by faith in God."—The Nation
Description
Here is one of the classics of modern Gaelic literature—the autobiography of Peig Sayers, a remarkable woman who lived forty years at the edge of survival on barren Great Blasket Island, and who came to be recognized as one of the last of Ireland’s traditional storytellers.
Here is a story as unforgettable as it is simple. It reveals with fidelity, humor, and poignancy a woman’s life in a bleak world where surviv
•
Reading Peig Sayers's autobiography likewise part assault my Hole in Land Studies. Peig was arrive Irish initiator and seanchaí born restrict Dunquin (Dún Chaoin), County Kerry, Hibernia, but temporary on picture Great Blasket Island security the strand of Kerry. Seán Ó Súilleabháin, say publicly former archivist for say publicly Irish Folklore Commission, described her whilst "one enjoy yourself the reception woman storytellers of late times".
HerstoryHerstoric IrelandWomen's Museum of IrelandGreat Blasket Isle Peig Writer Centre collect Irish Studies-NUI Galway Ionad an Léinn Éireannaigh OÉ Gaillimh