Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Irish-American Networks

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Vanishing World of The Islandman

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Literary Anthropology ((PSLA))

  • 146 Accesses

Abstract

Given the extensive migration from the Blaskets to the US, the Irish-American connection has always been strong and features in Ó Criomhthain’s memoir. An tOileánach (The Islandman) holds a strong magnetism for descendants of the islanders in Springfield, Massachusetts. This chapter focuses on the meaning and legacy of a historical rural memoir for a contemporary urban Irish-American diaspora. While these Irish-Americans are nostalgic for the way of life on the island, this nostalgia is more reflective than restorative, and there is no longing to return to a way of life that was distinctly challenging. The literary tradition begun by Tomás Ó Criomhthain continues, and contemporary American-Irish diaspora narratives are part of the legacy of the original book.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 27.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

Editions of the Memoir

  • Ó Criomhthain, Tomás, An tOileánach. Seán Ó Coileáin a chuir in eagar. Baile Átha Cliath: Cló Talbóid, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

Translations of the Memoir

  • O’Crohan, Tomás. The Islander: A Translation of an tOileánach by Garry Bannister and David Sowby. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

Texts

  • Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London, New York: Verso, 1991 [1983].

    Google Scholar 

  • Boym, Svetlana. The Future of Nostalgia. New York: Basic Books, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carney, Michael and Hayes, Gerald. From the Great Blasket to America – The Last Memoir by an Islander. Cork: Collins Press, 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Céitinn, Seosamh. Tomás, Oileánach. Baile Átha Cliath: An Clóchomhar Teo, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, Robin. Global Diasporas: An Introduction. London: UCL Press, 1997.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Danson, Mike and Burnett, Kathryn. Enterprise and Entrepreneurship on Island. In: Colette Henry, Gerard McElwee eds, Exploring Rural Enterprise: New Perspectives on Research, Policy and Practice. Bingley: Emerald Group, (2014), pp. 151–74.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • De Mórdha, Daithí. The Blasket Centre. In: Felicity Hayes-McCoy and Wilf Judd eds. Dingle and Its Hinterland: People, Places and Heritage. Cork: Collins Press, 2017, pp. 83–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Mórdha, Mícheál. An Island Community: The Ebb and Flow of the Great Blasket Island. Dublin: Liberties Press, 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, Luke. Peripheral Modernities: National and Global in a Post-Colonial Frame. In: Keith Hanley and Greg Kucich eds, Nineteenth-Century Worlds: Global Formations Past and Present, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2008, pp. 199–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, Gerald and Kane, Eliza. The Last Blasket King: Pádraig Ó Catháin, an Rí. Cork: Collins Press, 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, Gerald. The Blasket Islandman: The Life and Legacy of Tomás Ó Criomhthain, Cork: Collins Press, 2018.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, Emma and Nic Craith, Máiréad. Medium and Narrative Change: The Effects of Multiple Media on the “Glasgow Girls” Story and Their Real-Life Campaign. Narrative Culture, 3(1), (2016), 87–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Í Chearnaigh, Seán Sheáin. An tOileán a Tréigeadh. Baile Átha Cliath: Sáirséal Agus Dill, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  • Í Chearnaigh, Seán Sheáin. Iarbhlascaodach ina Dheoraí. Baile Átha Cliath: Sáirséal agus Dill, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennelly, Brendan: “An Béal Bocht” by Myles na gCopaleen (1911–1966). In: John Jordan ed. The Pleasures of Gaelic Literature. Dublin: Mercier Press in collaboration with Radio Teilifís Eireann, (1977), pp. 85–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, Doreen. Space, Place and Gender. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matson, Leslie M. Méiní: the Blasket Nurse. Cork: Mercier Press, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, Kerby A. Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreton, Cole. Hungry for Home – Leaving the Blaskets – A Journal from the Edge of Ireland. London: Viking, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Na gCopaleen, Myles. An Béal Bocht. Baile Átha Cliath: An Press Náisiúnta, 1941.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nic Craith, Máiréad. An tOileánach Léannta. Baile Átha Cliath: An Clóchomhar, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nic Craith, Máiréad. Malartú Teanga: An Ghaeilge i gCorcaigh sa Naoú hAois Déag, Bremen: European Society for Irish Studies, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nic Craith, Máiréad. A Sense of Place in Irish-Language Memoirs: the West Kerry Gaeltacht, 1929–1939. In: Maurice Bric ed. Kerry, History and Society, Dublin: Geography Publications, 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nic Craith, Máiréad and Kockel, Ullrich. Homo Hibernians Rusticus Revisited: Flann O’Brien’s Parody of National Myth Making. In: Regina Bendix and Dorothy Noyes eds. Terra Riddens, Dortmund: Betraige zur Kulturgeshichte des Islamischen Orients, 2018, pp. 220–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, Flann. The Poor Mouth. Translated by P. C. Power. London: Hart Davis, Mac Gibbon Ltd., Great Britain, 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ó Coileáin, Seán. Tomás Ó Criomhthain, Brian Ó Ceallaigh agus An Seabhac. In: Seán Ó Mórdha eag. Scríobh 4. Baile Átha Cliath: An Clóchomhar, 1979, lgh. 159–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ó Coileáin, Seán. An tOileánach – Ón Láimh go dtí an Leabhar. In: Máire Ní Chéilleachair eag. Céiliúradh an Bhlascaoid 2: Tomás Ó Criomhthain 1855–1937. Baile Átha Cliath: Coiscéim, 1998, lgh. 25–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ó Conaire, Brendán eag. Tomás an Bhlascaoid. Conamara: Cló Iar-Chonnachta, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ó Criomhthain, Seán. Lá dár Saol. Baile Átha Cliath: Oifig an tSoláthair, 1969.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ó Criomhthain, Tomás. Dinnsheanchas na mBlascaodaí. Baile Átha Cliath: Oifig Díolta Foilseacháin Rialtais, 1935.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Crohan, Seán. A Day in Our Life. Translated by Tim Enright. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Crohan, Tomás. Island Cross-Talk: Pages from a Diary. Translated by Tim Enright. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ó Gaoithín, Mícheál. Is Truagh ná Fanann an Óige. Baile Átha Cliath: Oifig an tSoláthair, 1953.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Guiheen, Mícheál. A Pity Youth Does Not Last. Translated by Tim Enright, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ó Súilleabháin, Muiris. Fiche Blian ag Fás. Baile Átha Cliath: Clólucht an Talbóidigh, 1933.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Sullivan, Maurice. Dwadziescia lat dorastania. Translated by Ernest Bryll and Małgorzata Goraj. Warszawa: Ludowa Spoldzielnia Wydawnicza, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Sullivan, Maurice. Inselheimat. Translated by Elisabeth Aman. Zurich: Manesse Verlag, 1956.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Sullivan, Maurice. Twenty Years A-Growing. Translated by George Thomson and Moya Llewellyn Davies. London: Chatto and Windus, 1933.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Sullivan, Maurice. Vingt ans de jeunesse. Translated by Raymond Queneau, Paris, France: Gallimard, 1936.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radhakrishnan, Rajagopalan. Theory in an Uneven World. Blackwell, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sayers, Peig. An Old Woman’s Reflections, translated by Séamus Ennis. Oxford: University Press, 1962.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sayers, Peig. Peig: A Scéal Féin, edited by Máire Ní Chinnéide. Dublin: Talbot 1936.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sayers, Peig. The Autobiography of Peig Sayers of the Great Blasket, translated by Brian McMahon. Dublin: The Talbot Press, 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solnit, Rebecca. A Book of Migrations. Some Passages in Ireland. London and New York: Verso, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • Synge, John Millington. In Wicklow and West Kerry. Gloucester: Dodo Press, 1912.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Republican. The Irish Legacy: A History of the Irish in Western Massachusetts. Canada: Pediment Publishing, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyers, Pádraig, eag. Blasket Memories: The Life of an Irish Island Community. Cork: Mercier Press, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ua Maoileoin, Pádraig. Na hAird Ó Thuaidh. Baile Átha Cliath: Sáirséal Agus Dill, 1960.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ua Maoileoin, Pádraig. De Réir Uimhreacha. Baile Átha Cliath: Muintir an Dúna, 1969.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK

    Máiréad Nic Craith

Authors
  1. Máiréad Nic Craith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Máiréad Nic Craith .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Nic Craith, M. (2020). Irish-American Networks. In: The Vanishing World of The Islandman. Palgrave Studies in Literary Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25775-0_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25775-0_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25774-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25775-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation