On the Edge
eBook - ePub

On the Edge

Ireland's off-shore islands: a modern history

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

On the Edge

Ireland's off-shore islands: a modern history

About this book

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ONSIDE NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018 The islands off the coast of Ireland have long been a source of fascination. Seen as repositories of an ancient Irish culture and the epitome of Irish romanticism, they have attracted generations of scholars, artists and filmmakers, from James Joyce to Robert O'Flaherty, looking for a way of life uncontaminated by modernity or materialism. But the reality for islanders has been a lot more complex. They faced poverty, hardship and official hostility, even while being expected to preserve an ancient culture and way of life. Writing in her 1936 autobiography, Peig Sayers, resident of Blaskets island, described it as 'this dreadful rock'. In 1841, there were 211 inhabited islands with a combined population of 38, 000; by 2011, only 64 islands were inhabited, with a total population of 8, 500. And younger generations continue to leave. By documenting the island experiences and the social, cultural and political reaction to them over the last 100 years, On the Edge examines why this exodus has happened, and the gulf between the rhetoric that elevated island life and the reality of the political hostility towards them.It uncovers, through state and private archives, personal memoirs, newspaper coverage, and the author's personal travels, the realities behind the "dreadful rocks", and the significance of the experiences of, and reactions to, those who were and remain, literally, on the very edge of European civilisation.

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Yes, you can access On the Edge by Diarmaid Ferriter in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Irish History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Also by Diarmaid Ferriter
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Introduction
  9. 1 The Island Question in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
  10. 2 The Islands and the Irish State, 1922–53
  11. 3 The State and the Islands, 1953–2016
  12. 4 The Island Priest
  13. 5 Island Visitors: The First Wave
  14. 6 Island Visitors: The Second Wave
  15. 7 Island Life and Mentality
  16. Postscript
  17. Notes
  18. Bibliography
  19. List of Illustrations
  20. Index