Ó SÚILEABHÁIN, Muiris. Fiche Blian ag Fás. With frontispiece and map [THE FIRST EDITION]

Átha Cliath: Clólucht an Talbóidigh, 1933. First edition. pp. 381. Light blue cloth, titled in gilt. Owner‟s signature on front free endpaper. Occasional mild foxing. Some edge wear and spine tanned. A very good copy in rare dust worn jacket. Maurice O‟Sullivan was born and reared on the Blasket Islands, off the Kerry coast, and in this book he tells the story of his childhood. Many of the folk tales he learned at the fireside from his grandfather. In the preface he wrote: “It was a tender thought that struck me to write this book for the entertainment and laughter of the old women of the Blasket Island, who showed me great love and affection when I used to call on them during the long winter nights. And so, remembering their sorrow when I left them, I took up my pen and wrote this book in order to send my voice into their ears again, the voice that always roused them”. The language of the book is rich and racy Kerry Irish. Ó Suilleabháin has rendered invaluable help to the cause of the Irish Revival and Fiche Blian ag Fás has enshrined for all time the rich idiom of the Blaskets.