Great Blasket Island

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Great Blasket (An Bhlascaod Mhór in Irish) is the principal island of the Blaskets, County Kerry, Ireland. It lies approximately 2 km from the mainland at Dunmore Head, and extends 6 km to the southwest, rising to 292 metres at its highest point (Croaghmore). Great Blasket was inhabited until 1953, when the Irish government decided that it could no longer guarantee the safety of the remaining population. However, it retains a temporary population during Summer and early Autumn, which consists of the ferry operators, the hostel staff, and tourists.

The Great Blasket was the setting for the published works of several famous Irish writers, among them Peig Sayers and Muiris Ó Súilleabháin. Today, one of the houses in which Sayers once lived has been restored, and serves as a hostel as well as a tea shop.