Killarney. Ó Ceallaigh overcame Ó Criomhthain's initial reluctance by showing him works by Maxim Gorky and Pierre Loti, books describing the lives of peasants and fishermen, to prove to Ó Criomhthain the interest and value of such a project. Once persuaded, Ó Criomhthain sent Ó Ceallaigh a series of daily letters for five years – a diary – which the latter forwarded to scholar and writer Pádraig "An Seabhac" Ó Siochfhradha for editing for publication. Ó Ceallaigh then convinced Ó Criomhthain to write his life story and best-known work, An t-Oileánach. A result of Ó Criomthain's letter-writing style, the book is noted for its brevity and lack of portrayal of the author's emotions. Traditionally viewed as more a cultural ethnography than a work of literary merit, this stance has been challenged in recent times by scholars such as Mark Quigley. The Flower translation of the text concludes with a statement whose final clause is well known and often quoted in Ireland:The first of the so-called "Blasket autobiographies", the release of in 1929 was followed by the release of Muiris Ó Súilleabháin's in 1933 and Peig Sayers' in 1936. Works Allagar na hInise, Allagar 11, Coiscéim 1999 Edited by Pádraig Ua Maoileoin An tOileánach, Cló Talbóid 2002, Translations Island Cross-Talk: Pages from a Diary, translated by Tim Enright; Oxford University Press, 1987; The Islandman, translated by Robin Flower; Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1951; The Islander, translated by Garry Bannister and David Sowby; Gill & MacMillan, 2013; See also An Béal Bocht Blasket Islands List of people on stamps of Ireland Peig Sayers References Citations Sources External links Ó Criomhthain's Ricorso database entry The Blascaod Centre in Dún Chaoin 1856 births 1937 deaths 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Blasket Islands Fishers Gaelic culture Irish diarists Irish memoirists Irish-language writers People from Dingle Irish storytellers