The centre itself had everything from the stories of individuals on the island, to recordings of their voices, to a replica of the boats that they fashioned in order to visit the main land. It was a rather extensive collection, pretty impressive honestly; a place so dedicated to a people that would've otherwise gone unrecognized. Life of the island itself was incredibly difficult, but the people were able to stay self-sufficient for quite a while. The collection captured the Irish culture that was strong throughout the people, including the language and even a house that would've been roughly what the island people lived in. It was a wonderful cultural center that has hopefully given us more knowledge for what is to come on the island.
After lunch we walked up the road to the house of an artist named Maria Simonds-Gooding. We were told a few tidbits about this woman and some side research only really told us about her art and where she has traveled too, however none of this explained the kind of woman that we were about to meet. She was an absolute wonder to meet. She is an incredibly inquisitive person with a bubbly bright personality spread throughout her entire house like the pleasant smoky smell coming from her hearth. She asked each and every one of us what we were studying and where we wanted to go with our lives, all while sprinkling the conversation with fun stories from her life. She told us all about her art, her life exploring and meeting people, as well as showing us some of her pieces. What she said inspired her the most about her works, about the places that she traveled to, was the people. The people that were able to overcome harsh conditions from the environment and creatively thrived in unforgiving landscapes. She found these people fascinating and found the need to depict them in her art. She was absolutely a wonderful person, one of whom I will never forget.
Overall today was fantastic. Learning more about the culture of people that we have been studying and meeting a wonderful human being brings it all to good end. Tomorrow we actually get to go to the Blasket Island and finally get to see the island as the Blasketers would have. Stay Tuned.