Kildare author publishes first book, Blasket Bound

A Kildare author is due to launch her first book, Blasket Bound – a memoir of time spent living on the Great Blasket Island – later this month.

Lesley Bond and her partner, Gordon, were the first couple to embark on the six-month caretaking residency on the Great Blasket Island, one of Ireland´s most remote and historically rich locations.

With no electricity, hot water or modern conveniences, their daily existence was like nothing they had experienced before.

A unique blend of personal reflection and rich heritage, Blasket Bound reveals how the past continues to shape the present.

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It is a deep exploration of identity, illustrating how the environments we inhabit and the histories we inherit leave an indelible mark.

Lesley Bond lives in Kildare with her husband and son. In 2019, she and her now husband spent six months living and working as caretakers on the Great Blasket Island.

This experience grew from her 2018 master’s studies at Trinity College Dublin, which focused on the island’s intangible heritage, and a career shaped by roles in Ireland’s cultural institutions.

Fiona Murphy, Head of Communications at Gill describes Blasket Bound as “...a stunning piece of nature writing as discover all the nooks and crannies of the island and learn to understand its rhythms. But it’s also a fascinating cultural exploration of the island people who came before us, and the footprints they have left on the land.”

Blasket Bound, published by Gill and written by Lesley Bond will be launched at Barker and Jones in Naas on Thursday April 23 2026.

“We sat on our bags and waited, our cargo piled high beside us. The tide lapped at the stone wall below us, and in that moment, with the land behind and the sea in front, I felt the first real jolt of what we were doing. This is real. It’s happening.” - excerpt from Blasket Bound.