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At Slea Head, five miles west of Ventry, the view opens up to include the desolate, splintered masses of the Blasket Islands ( Na Blascaodai ), officially uninhabited since 1953, though there are still summer communities on the islands. The weather in Blasket Sound can be treacherous - two of the Armada's ships were shattered to matchwood when they came bowling round the Head in September 1588 - but inhospitable as they seem, the islands were once the home of thriving communities. The astonishing body of Irish literature that emerged from these tiny islands (Maurice O'Sullivan's Twenty Years A-Growing , Peig Sayers's Peig and Tomas O'Crohan's Island Cross-Talk ) gives a vivid picture of the life of the islanders which, although remote, was anything but unsophisticated. Ironically, these literary works describe life among people who could neither read nor write, yet their oral tradition emerges as far from primitive. Locals are less than enamoured of the ugly interpretive centre, Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhoir , at Dunquin (Easter-June & Sept-Oct daily 10am-6pm; July & Aug daily 10am-7pm; GBP2.50/?3.18; Heritage Card), but nevertheless the material it holds on the lives and literature of the islanders is very interesting, and there's a good cafe for lunch too. In the summer, boats bound for Great Blasket ( An Blascaod Mor ) leave the pier just south of Dunquin every half hour between 10.30am and 5pm for around GBP12/?15.24 return (May-Sept in good weather; tel 066/915 6422, www.blasketferries.com ). Whether or not you choose to stay over, Great Blasket's delights are simple ones: sitting on the beaches and staring out to sea, tramping the many footpaths that crisscross the island, or trying to spot a seal. If you want to swim be careful as currents are very strong - and the water will be icy. One of the old houses has been renovated and turned into a hostel (summer only; tel 086/848 6687); evening meals are available. If you want to camp on the island you'll need to be prepared - take food (there's no shop, just the cafe mentioned below), water carriers for the well, and bags to carry refuse home. Good cheap dinners are available at the island cafe (noon-5pm). It's advisable to check the longterm weather forecast with the boatmen in advance, as it's possible to be stranded for days if the weather breaks. There's a comfortable An Oige hostel on the mainland at DUNQUIN ( Dun Chaoin ), with plenty of dorm, twin (under GBP26/?33.01) and four-bed rooms and a drying room (tel 066/915 6121); breakfast is available. Although there isn't a shop in Dunquin, the hostel stocks a very limited range of food stuffs. Kruger's pub (closed Oct-Feb; tel 066/915 6127; GBP26-33/?33.01-41.90) is the hub of local activity, with food and traditional music in summer, and B&B . Across from here An Portan restaurant (tel 066/915 6212; GBP33-40/?41.90-50.79) enjoys a good reputation and also offers B&B. About a mile up the hill from here is Gleann Dearg (tel 066/915 6188; GBP33-40/?41.90-50.79), a cosy B&B with lovely views, and further up lies the Dunquin Pottery Cafe , one of the best places in Dunquin for daytime eating (the other being the heritage centre) which affords spectacular views out across the Blaskets and, behind these, a mass of mountain laced with a network of stone dykes. Tig Aine (tel 066/915 6214), about two miles north of Dunquin at An Ghraig, is a laid-back cafe and weaver's shop where you can enjoy soups, sandwiches, omelettes and stir-frys overlooking the sea and a delightful garden.
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