This is an account of a unique people - a group of Gaelic-speaking islanders living nine miles off the coast of Donegal. Their roots go back to pre-Christian Ireland, and in their isolation they have maintained ways of life that have disappeared on the mainland and the rest of Europe. Perhaps in no other place is the archaic structure of the peasantry so well preserved - not unchanged, but adapted to fit old customs to new uses. The book describes the history, legends, demography, genealogies, kinship, land tenure, boat crews and household and marriage arrangements (where it was customary for many husbands and wives to live in different houses) of these people.