At the age of 14, her family met with difficulties, both financially and with the new daughter-in-law. Peig’s educational bliss did not last long. Books, and thus words, became her greatest treasure. This was her doorway to learning reading and writing, both in English and in Irish ( Peig, pg 35). That very same day, she insisted that her parents allow her to start school that week, and reluctantly they obliged ( Peig, pg 15). At the age of four, Peig discovered the world of literature after visiting her friend, Cáit -Jim, who was already enrolled in school. Her love of language did not stop with the oral traditions however. Throughout her childhood, she would leap at any opportunity to listen to the stories of the old people in her nearby villages and towns ( Peig, pg 19, 33).
Her father had a flare for storytelling and poetry, as did her mother, and she relished every moment she could of these tales and lyrics that her elders spun. Peig Sayers was born in 1873 to Tomás Sayers and Peig Brosnan in the parish of Dunquin on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. A natural performer, “Salt of the Earth” woman, and an oral enchantress, she quickly became dearly loved by her neighbors, countrymen, and folklorists around the world. She was often visited by students of universities and scholars wishing to record a portion of her vast collection of folklore knowledge. Peig Sayers was a legend in her own time. Peig Mhór, Saol Mhór: Biography of Peig Sayers
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