"Peig" was a book that was beaten into us when we were school kids. It was part of the school program from which there was no escape. Harsh rural Ireland from the old days. Poverty, piety, grim tales of life on the west of the country. An elderly woman, Peig Sayers, bent over with age, covered with a black shawl, recounting stories in her life, dictated because of illiteracy to the Irish Folklore Commission. They gathered stories so they wouldn't be lost. Harsh life on the Blasket Islands, off the west coast of my country. This book was the staple for anyone growing up around my age.
Can't say it was fun. And this was the book they were trying to teach the Irish language from and inspire a new generation.
How things have changed. Now everytime I go back, thankfully, I see the language growing again.
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