View from Great Blasket Island (An Blascaoid Mór), looking towards Dunquin (Dún Chaoin). This is the largest of the group of Islands known as The Blasket Islands, off the coast of the Dingle Peninsula, South West Ireland. The once thriving community of 150 or more people declined, as emigration, mainly to the USA, took it's toll on the population, and when the Island was finally vacated in 1953 there were only 22 people living on the Island. The islander's homes fairly quickly fell to ruin, only a few of them have been maintained by their owners who use them for summer visits.