Why are the Blasket Islands no longer inhabited?

The Blasket Islands (Irish: Na Blascaodaí) are an uninhabited group of islands off the west coast of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The last island to hold a significant population, Great Blasket Island, was abandoned in 1954 due to population decline and is best known for a number of gifted Irish language writers who vividly described their way of life and who kept alive old Irish folk tales of the land.

The islands were inhabited until 1954 by a completely Irish-speaking population and today are part of the Gaeltacht. At its peak, the islands had 175 residents. The population declined to 22 by 1953. The government evacuated most of the remaining residents to the mainland on 17 November 1953 because of increasingly extreme winter weather that left the island's ageing population cut off from emergency services.[1] The evacuation was seen as necessary by both the Islanders and the government. The Ó Suilleabháin family were reluctant to leave, and became the final family to depart Great Blasket Island in 1954.[2]

The Blasket Islands population declined over time. The rationale for evacuating the last of residents was the concern that emergency services would not be available in the event of extreme winter weather.