Peig Sayers is a famous Irish author. Her autobiography, Peig, was a part of the Leaving Certificate Irish course, so many generations of people are familiar with her story. It is a very bleak account of life as an Irish speaking island dweller in changing times in Ireland.
Peig was born in Dunquin (Dún Chaoin), a small town in County Kerry. She moved to the Great Blasket Island after marrying Pádraig Ó Gaoithín, who was a native of the island. Peig was illiterate, but dictated many of her stories and was admired for her style of traditional storytelling. She continued to live on the island until 1953, when it was abandoned due to a declining population. She was moved to a hospital in Dingle, Co. Kerry where she died in 1958.