I just received some marvelous information about a special offering of The Gathering -- Ireland 2013, a "spectacular, year-long celebration of all things Irish". Take a look at the Blasket and West Kerry Welcome Home Week events, organized by Mícheál de Mórdha, Director of the Blasket Centre in Dún Chaoin, Co. Kerry. I spent two months during my sabbatical as a Visiting Researcher in the Archives of the Blasket Centre and learned so much about these amazing people -- their history and their culture -- and the incredible stories and story-telling ethos of this small island community.
I got a nice invite from Sean Cahillane (Martin Kearney's nephew) and Jerry Hayes (Mike Carney's son-in-law) reiterating the special connection between the Blasket Islands and Springfield, MA -- there are over 6,000 Blasket Island descendants that can trace their family roots back to the Dingle Peninsula. Mike Carney (Martin Kearney's brother) is one of the last few surviving Blasket Islanders and the oldest living native Blasket Islander, and I am delighted to learn that he will launch his memoir, From the Great Blasket to America: The Last Memoir by an Islandman, published by the Collins Press in Dublin. I interviewed Mike when I was in Springfield for my second set of interviews with the Kearney family, in the spring of 2011, and I am eager to read the book and learn more about Mike's life as I continue to work on the film about his brother, Martin Kearney.
I got a nice invite from Sean Cahillane (Martin Kearney's nephew) and Jerry Hayes (Mike Carney's son-in-law) reiterating the special connection between the Blasket Islands and Springfield, MA -- there are over 6,000 Blasket Island descendants that can trace their family roots back to the Dingle Peninsula. Mike Carney (Martin Kearney's brother) is one of the last few surviving Blasket Islanders and the oldest living native Blasket Islander, and I am delighted to learn that he will launch his memoir, From the Great Blasket to America: The Last Memoir by an Islandman, published by the Collins Press in Dublin. I interviewed Mike when I was in Springfield for my second set of interviews with the Kearney family, in the spring of 2011, and I am eager to read the book and learn more about Mike's life as I continue to work on the film about his brother, Martin Kearney.