Tomás O'Crohan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tomás Ó Criomhthain
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| Born | |
| Baptised | 29 April 1855 |
| Died | (aged 81) Great Blasket Island, Irish Free State
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| Nationality | Irish |
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Notable work
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| Spouse(s) |
Máire Ní Chatháin
(m. 1878) |
| Children | 10 |
Tomás Ó Criomhthain (born 1855, died 7 March 1937) was an Irish writer. He lived on the Great Blasket Island, a small island off the coast of Ireland. This island was a place where people spoke only Irish.
Tomás wrote two famous books in the Irish language. These were Allagar na h‑Inise ("Island Cross-Talk") and An tOileánach ("The Islandman"). Both books have been translated into English. He is known as a very important writer from the Blasket Islands.
Contents
About Tomás Ó Criomhthain
It's not completely clear when Tomás Ó Criomhthain was born. In his book An tOileánach, he said he was born on St. Thomas's Day in 1856. However, records show he was baptised on April 29, 1855. This means he was likely born in 1855.
Tomás was the youngest of ten children. Only five of them lived to be adults. He had four sisters named Maura, Kate, Eileen, and Nora. He also had one brother named Pats.
Tomás's Early Life and Family
Tomás went to school on and off between the ages of 10 and 18. Teachers from the mainland would sometimes come to live on the island. This was how he got his education.
He married Máire Ní Chatháin on February 5, 1878. They had ten children together. Sadly, many of their children died young from illnesses like measles or whooping cough. One son fell from a cliff, and another son, Domhnall, drowned trying to save someone. Máire also died when she was still quite young.
One of their sons, Seán, also wrote a book. It was called Lá dar Saol ("A Day in Our Life"). His book described how the people left the Great Blasket Island. They moved to the mainland and America in the 1940s and 1950s. Tomás Ó Criomhthain passed away on March 7, 1937, when he was 81 years old.
Tomás's Books
Tomás Ó Criomhthain's books are considered very important in Irish literature. His book An tOileánach is especially famous. These books describe a unique way of life that no longer exists. They tell us a lot about the people, their language, and their culture.
How Tomás Started Writing
Tomás began writing down his experiences after World War I. A man named Brian Ó Ceallaigh encouraged him to do so. At first, Tomás didn't want to write. But Ó Ceallaigh showed him books by other writers. These books were about the lives of ordinary people like farmers and fishermen. This helped Tomás see that his own life story could be interesting and valuable.
Tomás then started sending daily letters to Ó Ceallaigh for five years. These letters were like a diary. Ó Ceallaigh sent them to a scholar named Pádraig "An Seabhac" Ó Siochfhradha. He helped edit them for publication. After this, Ó Ceallaigh convinced Tomás to write his life story, which became An tOileánach.
His book is known for being short and not showing much of the author's feelings. It was often seen as a record of culture. However, some scholars now see it as a work with great literary value.
A Famous Quote
The English translation of The Islandman ends with a well-known quote. It is often repeated in Ireland:
I have written minutely of much that we did, for it was my wish that somewhere there should be a memorial of it all, and I have done my best to set down the character of the people about me so that some record of us might live after us, for the like of us will never be again.
This quote shows that Tomás wanted to remember his way of life. He knew that the unique island culture might disappear.
An tOileánach was the first of several "Blasket autobiographies." After his book came out in 1929, other famous books followed. These included Fiche Bliain ag Fás by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin in 1933. Also, Peig by Peig Sayers was published in 1936.
List of Works
- Allagar na hInise, ISBN: 1-85791-131-8
- Allagar 11, Coiscéim 1999 Edited by Pádraig Ua Maoileoin
- An tOileánach, Cló Talbóid 2002, ISBN: 0-86167-956-3
- Translations
- Island Cross-Talk: Pages from a Diary, translated by Tim Enright; Oxford University Press, 1987; ISBN: 0-19-212252-5
- The Islandman, translated by Robin Flower; Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1951; ISBN: 0-19-815202-7
- The Islander, translated by Garry Bannister and David Sowby; Gill & MacMillan, 2013; ISBN: 0-71-715794-6
See also
- An Béal Bocht
- Blasket Islands
- List of people on stamps of Ireland
- Peig Sayers
