Memories from the Blasket

Based on interviews with Blasket islanders that have never been broadcast, seamlessly blended with scenes recorded in West Kerry and America in 2015, “Cuimhní ón mBlascaod” relates the earthy, humorous, and ultimately tragic story of life on the Great Blasket by those who remember the best and the worst of times on the island. Emmy award-winning director Gerry Gregg has compiled the footage based on material commissioned in the early 1990’s by Fondúireacht an Bhlascaoid (The Blasket Foundation). It had commissioned the veteran Director Bob Quinn and the award-winning Deasy brothers (Séamus and Brendan) to record the unique testimonies of the remaining Blasket islanders living in Ireland. For over 20 years the original negative film and the precious audio recordings were stored but recently they have been digitally restored and the soundtracks re-mastered. In 2015 the Deasy brothers with director Gerry Gregg returned to Kerry to pick up from where they left off and together they have summoned up a lost world. Giles Packham has composed an epic score to tell the story using beautiful evocative textured instrumentation and musical themes that carry through from child like memories to some of the darker, stormier and sad days on the island.