Interview: Canon Jack Mckenna Ted Creedon This interview with Canon Jack McKenna was broadcast on Radio Kerry on December 26, 2001 as part of the series South by South West. Canon McKenna, who was known to most people as Father Jackie, had served as a curate and parish priest throughout the diocese of Kerry during his lifetime. He was also a noted historian and had written two books on the history of Dingle and surrounding areas. His first parish was Ballyferriter and he wasn't long there The Stations on the Great Blasket.. "There was a radio/telephone on the Great Blasket in those days which was connected directly to the post office in Dunquin, so any sick call message was passed on to the post office in Ballyferriter and then on to the presbytery. The island population was ageing and I went there whenever there was a sick call. There was no church on the island so they came out for Sunday Mass in Dunquin, weather permitting. Indeed, the weather would have to be very bad to keep them from coming out. We had regular visits to the island for the Stations and that was generally in the month of May when we finished the Spring Stations on the mainland. We would send word to them that we would go in to the island whenever the weather was suitable. For instance, if they were at Sunday Mass and the weather on the Monday was suitable, wind and tides, they would send word, through the radio/telephone, that they were coming out for the priests.
There was only one child on the island when I was there. There were teenagers alright, some fine strapping young men but only one child. His name was Gearóid Ó Catháin and he was described as the loneliest child in the world. There was a family of Carneys there and there were a number of fine, big strong boys in that family. When we arrived there on the Stations day there was a great welcome for us. The people would be down at the landing place to welcome us and to help us up the pathway which was a bit uneven. They'd escort us up to the village or An Baile as they called it and the Station Mass was said in what was the little schoolhouse. The school was closed in 1941 when it was down to six pupils. The pupils were four Carneys and two Guithíns. The school had been there since 1866. But even though the school had been closed since 1941 the little desks and the blackboard were still there. The procedure was that I would say Mass first while Father Tom was hearing Confessions in the house next door which was the Carney family home. Then we reversed roles and Father Tom said Mass and I was available for Confessions. After the Masses we had breakfast in the Carney house. We used to fast from midnight in those days so after the trip across the Sound and the Masses you'd be ready for tea and a boiled egg. The people went home after the Masses for their breakfast but they came back again after that. There was a chair placed outside the Carney house for Father Tom and the people would gather around and sit on stools or an old box or on the grass or a ditch. Then we all had the most delightful conversation and chat with give and take. It was most enjoyable, and all in the beautiful, flowing Blasket Irish".
This could have been at six o'clock in the morning. So we got ready, Father Tom Moriarty, the parish priest and myself and the parish clerk, Joe Hoare and we went back to Dunquin harbour. There would be two naomhógs waiting for us to take us in to the island. So, Father Tom would be in one naomhóg and myself and Joe in the other. I suppose it took anything from an hour and a half to two hours to cross to the island. It was always a most pleasant day. I have very happy memories of the Station day on the island. It was a lovely experience. The first time I went into the Blasket was in the summer of 1938 when I was 18 years of age. I visited Peig in her house. She was in good health in those days. But on that day in 1938 there were 26 houses occupied by the islanders and a population of 106. The first year I went in for the Stations, in 1947, the population was down to 50. That was a big drop in nine years. I remember that going in there the following year the population was down to something like 35. It was falling gradually until they were evacuated in 1953.
Canon Jack McKenna with Micheál de Mordha, in Dún Chaoin cemetery in 2008,at the commemoration marking the 50th anniversary of the death of Peig Sayers. Photo: Ted Creedon West Kerry Live 15 www.westkerrylive.ie