Great Blasket off the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry once had a population of 150. By 1953 the population had dwindled to 22 and the island was abandoned. For many years the literature of the island, and in particular Peig, an account of life on the island by local woman Peig Sayers, was a standard text in Irish schools. In recent years the island has a new found appeal with the growth of eco tourism.