He never noticed that he was the only child in the village - he saw everyone as the same age, even though the next-youngest person was his uncle, Faeilí (30). Maras Mhaidhc Léan, Gearóid, Mary Pheats Mhicí Uí Guithín and Seán Mhaidhc Léan He grew up surrounded by family and neighbours in a tight-knit and supportive community. Gearóid was the last person born on the island and the only child living there at the time - his young sisters, Áine and Josephine, were born on the mainland, where his family and the other islanders had moved.īut for Gearóid, island life was never lonely. My parents were amazed by this, but they decided not to take him up on his offer,” says Gearóid, who met Robinson in 1988, after the journalist heard him being interviewed on the Gay Byrne show about the islands. There was a big rancher in America, who wanted to buy me and adopt me - he had no heir and he decided I’d be the one who would take over his ranch. I got a huge amount of presents and clothes and toys, and people would come to the Blaskets and take photographs of me, the miniature Tarzan of the islands. The article was syndicated and it went everywhere - New Zealand, Australia, America. “The journalist chose the heading ‘The Loneliest Boy in the World’. Gearóid with his grandfather, Pádraig (Ceaist) Ó Catháin, at Bun a’ Bhaile on the Great Blasket. “The article was extraordinary,” says Gearóid, now 66, who later moved to Cork and trained as an accountant. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.Gifts of toys, clothes, books and offers of help poured in - a Minnesota rancher offered to adopt ‘the loneliest boy in the world’, whose only playmates, the article said, were seagulls.Ī couple from Iowa wanted to provide his parents with jobs and rear Gearóid to take over their family grain operation. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. Year should not be greater than current year Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos You may not upload any more photos to this memorial She was moved to a hospital in Dingle a few years later where Sean O’Sullivan recorded more of her repertoire. In 1942 she returned to Viacarstown, and in 1947 Radio Éireann's Travel Unit visited, recording over an hour of her stories. Beginning in 1938, she related her store of tales to the Irish Folklore Commission. She dictated her biography in Gaelic to her son Micheál in 1936, the manuscript was published as 'Peig: The Autobiography of Peig Sayers of the Great Blasket Island' and was for many years required reading in Irish schools. Robin Flower, Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum, traveled to the island to record her tales. Sean O’Sullivan, author of "Folktales of Ireland," once said she was among the last great Irish storytellers. She developed a reputation as a seanachaí, an Irish word indicating a tale teller or oral historian. Living in a one room stone cottage, they produced eleven children, six would survive to adulthood. In 1892, she married Pádraig Ó Guithín from Great Blasket Island where she then moved, and there raised her family.
Born Máiréad Sayers in Vicarstown, Dún Chaoin, County Kerry, Ireland, the daughter of Margaret Ni Bhrosnachain (Brosnan) and Tomás Sayers.
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