Fifty years after the bulk of the islanders left the Great Blasket for the mainland, a haunting new production, Oileán, by Siamsa Tíre, the National Folk Theatre, is reawakening old memories and concentrating minds.
It seems that finally, after half a century of neglect and legal wrangling, a strategy to preserve the island's houses and unique heritage may be taking shape.
Prior to the gala evening performance of Oileán late last week, a management group of landowners, Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs representatives, Kerry County Council, and those who use the island met in the theatre.
The aim is to secure a place for the Great Blasket on the UNESCO world heritage site list.
Mr Martin Nolan, Kerry county manager, is confident this will happen eventually.
"The play focuses the mind," said Ms Sue Redican, committee member and craft worker who lives each summer on the island.
There is much work to be done on the dwellings of writers Peig Sayers, Tomás Ó Criomhthain and Muiris Ó Súilleabháin.
The majority of buildings, like the island, are owned by a private company, An Blascaod Mór Teo.
The location for a pier, a central part of the €8 million rescue plan announced last year by the then minister for the arts, heritage, Gaeltacht and the islands, Ms Síle de Valera, threatened to expose long-running divisions. However, agreement has now been reached.
The new pier at a cost of around €2 million will be built in the existing location next to the village.
A proposal, strongly supported by some boatmen and landowners, for a pier on the north of the island, would have disturbed the grey seal population and led to huge cost, it was decided.
Years of wrangling have blighted the Great Blasket heritage. In 1997, the Supreme Court struck down the Blascaod Mór National Historic Park Act (1989), an attempt by the government under Mr Charles J. Haughey to acquire the island for the State.
The idyll put forward by Siamsa under director Mr Oliver Hurley recalls a Homeric existence, where maidens dance in patched sea-green skirts, young men trawl the seas for riches and old men have time to spin out their tales in verse.
The action, set on the strand, probably An Trá Bhán, is overlooked by a stunning backdrop of the island conjured up, like a Paul Henry painting, in a set designed by Ms Dara Magee, known for her work with Druid and Macnas.
The pain of emigration, the harshness of island living far from medical help are captured. As is "the roguery of the islanders", said Ms Redican.
Well received by the descendants of islanders, Oileán is set to become part of this year's Siamsa repertoire. It will run twice weekly in May and October in Tralee.