He wrote an autobiography of his years travelling the roads and though there was great interest in his work, he was unsuccessful in securing publication.
Ward was then a well-known character in Ireland, his ballads enlivening many a fair and pattern. Ward was very much at home in Kerry and especially in Ballyferriter – the ‘Dingle Republic’ – where lived his good friend Sean Kavanagh. Ward was welcomed into Peig’s cabin and sat by the fireside with her and her family where they exchanged stories. Peig was, he said, one of the hidden souls of Ireland seldom shown to the stranger and recalled how her voice settled in the depths of his soul, ‘more beautiful than I can describe.’ 1 Peig Sayers, a familiar figure to generations of Irish schoolchildren, was born on Ma– 137 years ago this week.Wandering bard, Eoghan Roe Ward, left a touching snapshot of Peig Sayers in her twilight years when he visited her in her home in Vicarstown, Dunquin, in 1944. She later spent her last years in the local hospital in Dingle. As the population of the island dwindled, people began moving to the mainland and Peig once again settled in Dunquin. She followed this with Machnamh Sean Mhná with Ní Chinnéide again as editor. This was edited by Máire Ní Chinnéide and became a central part of every schoolchild’s life. In the 1930s she dictated her life story to her son, Maidhc. Hundreds of her stories were gathered by the folklore commission. They were also the first to recognise the wealth of stories that Peig had and they recorded some of them. It was Flower and two fellow Englishman who began to persuade the people of the island to write their stories and from their encouragements, we got classics such as An tÓileanach and Fiche Blian ag Fás. Flower became so liked that he was given the Irish name Bláithín. Marstrander was instrumental in suggesting that Robin Flower visit the Blaskets and sent him to Tomás Ó Croithin. JM Synge arrived in 1905 and he was followed by Norwegian Carl Marstrander.
Gradually, visitors came to the Blaskets to learn Irish and to gather the stories and music of the islanders. Songs, music and storytelling passed the winter nights. In those early years of the last century, any entertainment was home grown, particularly during the winter. There she developed her talent for storytelling and she became one of the best-known seanchaí’s in the country.
Peig moved out to the island where she lived for the next 40 years and where seven of her 10 children survived infancy. This sojourn was not as happy as before but Peig left Dingle when she married Pádraig Ó Guithín from the Great Blasket Island. Peig had hoped to emigrate but was disappointed when her friend never sent back the fare as promised, so she went back into service in Dingle. As was the custom at that time, when one person emigrated they often sent back the fare for another to follow them. She was happy in Dingle and treated well but returned home to Dunquin for health reasons. As a young girl, she worked as a servant girl for a Dingle shopkeeper. Peig Sayers was born in Baile an Bhiocáire near Dunquin in West Kerry. You do not often find a person known simply by their Christian name and while it is common nowadays for married ladies to continue to use their maiden names, it was a rarity in the early years of the last century. Her story is no longer on the curriculum and has been replaced by, among others, Ireland’s Got Talent star Daithí Ó Sé’s father, Maidhc Dainín Ó Sé, who once roguishly described himself as “Peig without the shawl”. Her tales of the harsh life of ordinary folk along the west coast and on the islands was a staple diet for generations. Was there ever a woman more cursed upon by generations of schoolchildren? Her life story was a basic part of the school programme for decades.
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