35. The Islander’s Lament

© Robbie O’Connell 2000 Slievenamon Music (BMI)

The Blasket Islands archipelago consists of five small islands, situated off the tip of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry are the most westerly point in Europe. The largest, The Great Blasket (An Blascaod Mór), is just a half hour boat trip from the mainland pier in Dunquin but a world apart in so many ways. It was continuously populated from around 1600 until the early 1950s, when the population had dwindled to a couple of dozen from a high point of nearly two hundred in 1916. A beautiful and rugged place where the Irish language and culture survived unadulterated for hundreds of years, making a living there difficult to say the least. The lure of a modern lifestyle had induced more and more of the younger residents to leave. Some went to live on the mainland and many emigrated to the USA, mainly to West Springfield, Massachusetts. I remember being stunned to hear men speaking Irish (Gaelic) at the bar of the John Boyle O’Reilly Club in Springfield in the early 1970s only to discover that they were immigrants from the Great Blasket Island.

During prolonged winter storms the island could be cut off for weeks on end. In 1947, a young man contracted meningitis and bad weather prevented any medical help getting to him before he tragically died. This brought national attention to how precarious life on the island had become and the Irish Government decided to begin evacuating the remaining residents in 1953. The last family left in January 1954.

It was during one of my visits there that I began wondering what those final years on the island were like. There is a tangible sense of loneliness and isolation amid all the stunning beauty of the place. I imagined what it must have been like for a young woman longing for the return of her husband who had gone off to hopefully set up a new life where she could join him.

Several of the islanders wrote books about the joys and challenges of life on the Great Blasket. The three best known are The Islander by Thomás Ó Criomhthain, Peig by Peig Sayers, and Twenty Years A-Growing by Muiris Ó Súilleabháín. There is a wonderful interpretive centre, Ionad an Bhlascaoid, in Dunquin, that gives fascinating accounts of life on the island over the years. I highly recommend a visit, if you are in the area. There are also boat trips to the island from the pier in Dunquin during the summer months.

After I had written the song, I had a feeling that the second part of the tune was very similar to something else. It took a while for me to realize that it resembled part of an old Irish air, Eibhlí Gheal Chiúin Ní Chearbhaill. My first thought was to change the melody but it fit so well that I decided to leave it.

This recording is from the second Green Fields of America CD released in 2009 on Compass Records.

Lyrics:

THE ISLANDER’S LAMENT

© Robbie O’Connell 2000 Slievenamon Music (BMI)¹

For every hour I am parted from you
Oh how my heart will be grieving
And each night I lie all alone in my bed
It's only myself I'm deceiving
For love cannot conquer the pain that I feel
And time can't remove all the heartache
It's only the taste of your kisses so sweet
That can make life worth living for my sake

No bird in the forest nor beast in the field
Can know of the joy you are bringing
Your beauty is all in this world that I need
When I'm with you my heart will be singing
I'll count every moment while you are away
And savour the sweet taste of sorrow
That your parting kiss has bestowed on my lips
And I'll pray that I'll see you tomorrow

I'd sail every ocean to see you again
I'd instantly brave any danger
I'd roam through the world for one night in your arms
For I cannot abide being a stranger
So come back my love on the turn of the tide
And promise no more you'll be leaving
For one kiss is all I require from your lips
To inherit the garden of Eden

For every hour I am parted from you
Oh how my heart will be grieving
And each night I lie all alone in my bed
It's only myself I'm deceiving
For love cannot conquer the pain that I feel
And time can't remove all the heartache
It's only the taste of your kisses so sweet
That can make life worth living for my sake

1. PRODUCTION INFORMATION:
Robbie O’Connell: Vocal, Guitar
Mick Moloney: Harmony vocal, Mandolin
John Doyle: Bouzouki
Jerry O’Sullivan: Uilleann pipes
Ivan Goff: Flute
Brendan Dolan: Piano
Billy McComiskey: Button accordion
Athena Tergis: Fiddle