On Great Blasket Island, with ruins of the deserted homes, Beginnish Island and Sybil Head on the mainland in the distance. Great Blasket Island is off the coast of the Dingle Peninsula County Kerry, Ireland. The last residents of the Island left in 1953, after many years of a decline in numbers due mainly to emigration, and hardships from difficulty in accessing necessary services, paricularly during the frequent stormy weather. Now the Island is visited by hundreds of tourists during the summer season, and a few people spend their summers there, making a living on the tourism trade. The Island is particularly notable due to the large number of writers from the Island who mainly wrote about life on the Island. It is also an extremely beautiful Island, and highly recommended for a visit - in good weather!