Reddit mentions of Peig: The Autobiography of Peig Sayers of the Great Blasket Island (Irish Studies)

There have been some feminist evaluations and rewriting of folklore that are interesting, but not something I have pursued. There is no question that historically it tended to be men collecting from men, and some of that caused a skewed perspective. Clearly women were telling stories as often as men: the classic work, Peig, is an excellent autobiography of an Irish storyteller who was incredible for everything she was able to share with collectors.

In addition, there is no question that many of the heroes of the classic folktales were women, and yet the older perspective tended to emphasize men rescuing princesses. This was something that early folklorists said, even though many plots for folktales feature assertive women who get the job done all on their own! The modern scholarship has gone a long way towards correcting that, but at times it seems that it over compensates. Rewriting folktales from a feminist point of view is an interesting exercise, but it takes the primary sources a step away from the original, making it not something that can be evaluated, except in a feminist context, using folklore methodology.

There are also some creative imaginings that postulate the idea that folktales were filled with coded language that allowed older women to explain the ways of the world - and biology - to girls and young women. That's an interesting idea, but there is no evidence that I have seen that can convince an objective reviewer to see that this was the case.

All that said, your interest is far removed from the evaluation of folklore that is part of my background and subsequent research. Sorry - and best wishes.

No one currently lives on the Blaskets I am fairly confident. The occasional German family tries to overwinter sometimes but no one (or at least very few people) permanently lives on the main Blasket at least. You can stay there overnight or for longer periods though, just without many of the creature comforts inhabited with a large population islands have.

If you are interested in the area Twenty years a growing is a great book. Peig i did not like, but it is more famous.

Ryans daughter is filmed in the area. It looks great but John Mills oscar winning performance is pretty much unwatchable. Never go full retard.