![]() ![]() There are many layers to Peig, as I found out whilst making this programme.” “ This woman generously shared not only her life story, but many other stories that she had collected over the years I don’t believe the abuse she continuously receives is warranted. She discovered that Sayers was a much maligned woman who, in many ways, was the opposite of that portrayed in her autobiography. Máire Ní Dhálaigh, of the Office of Public Works's Blasket Centre, said: "Peig was the Netflix of the time and people gathered around her from far and wide. who loved to entertain and drew people to her."ĭr Criostoir MacCarthaigh told the documentary that contrary to the public image, Sayers was a woman with a strong sense of humour who was recorded in the 1940s by the Irish Folklore Commission and was a born performer.Storyteller. ![]() In 1942 she returned to Viacarstown, and in 1947 Radio Éireann's Travel Unit visited, recording over an hour of her stories. She was moved to a hospital in Dingle a few years later where Sean O’Sullivan recorded more of her repertoire. Born Máiréad Sayers in Vicarstown, Dún Chaoin, County Kerry, Ireland, the daughter of Margaret Ni Bhrosnachain (Brosnan) and Tomás Sayers. In 1892, she married Pádraig Ó Guithín from Great Blasket Island where she then moved, and there raised her family. Living in a one room stone cottage, they produced eleven children, six would survive to adulthood. She developed a reputation as a seanachaí, an Irish word indicating a tale teller or oral historian. Sean O’Sullivan, author of "Folktales of Ireland," once said she was among the last great Irish storytellers. Robin Flower, Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum, traveled to the island to record her tales. She dictated her biography in Gaelic to her son Micheál in 1936, the manuscript was published as 'Peig: The Autobiography of Peig Sayers of the Great Blasket Island' and was for many years required reading in Irish schools. There was a great response from Margaret Kent, who identified the boy on second-right as her uncle, and then Pádraig Cronin, who chipped in about his father recalling the old Beamish & Crawford lorries.Beginning in 1938, she related her store of tales to the Irish Folklore Commission. I wasn't expecting any of it, just sharing the picture after the Peig documentary. "It took all of eight minutes for the first response to come in. All of these contributions have helped fill in the picture in small ways, but there's still much to be learned. Soon after sharing it on Twitter, a small but significant response emerged, with users identifying family members of their own, and speaking about possible trips to the island on behalf of Beamish & Crawford employees. Peig Sayers: there was more to the master storyteller than your Leaving Cert had you believe, as we saw in last week's TG4 doc This was also when Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, also known as the Irish Pimpernel, the Irish Schindler, is supposed to have saved over 6000 Allied soldiers and civilian Jews from the Nazis." He studied for the priesthood, and was ordained there in the 1940s. "That photo fell out of an album of wartime photos from Rome. MacCarthy happened across the picture, dating roughly to the 1930s, while researching the man he was to become. OJtfZCYCaN- Flor MacCarthy□□ March 10, 2021Ĭarthach, the tall fellow third from the left in the picture, was there with 'friends and boys from Farranferris', according to the bit of info on the photo's reverse, but as is often the way with these finds, the information is lost to time. The tall ‘boy’, 3rd from the left, was my uncle. The inscription on the back reads: “Peig Sayers (with priests & boys from Farranferris)”. They're nudging each other and giggling in the presence of the great Peig.įound this photo of #Peig in an old family album recently. "When you look at the photo, it looks like she's surrounded by starstruck lads, and a really dignified pose in the middle of it, that gives away that she was a big deal at the time.
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