Oileán became central to Irish literary culture through the extraordinary memoirs and associated verse of the Blasket Islands (Na Blascaodaí), particularly after Tomás Ó Criomhthain's An tOileánach (The Islandman) appeared in 1929. The island community — isolated, Irish-speaking, close to the elemental forces of sea and rock — became for many a last image of authentic Gaelic life. Poets writing about the islands, in both Irish and English, found in oileán a term that concentrated questions of language survival, community, poverty, and beauty. The evacuation of the Blaskets in 1953 gave the word a retrospective elegiac charge that it has never lost.

Oileán is the modern Irish word for island, widely used in twentieth-century poetry to invoke isolation and identity. It reflects the experience of island communities, particularly in the west of Ireland. Poets use oileán imagery to explore themes of marginality, resilience, and connection to nature. The oileán is a microcosm of Ireland itself, surrounded by sea and history. It represents both confinement and freedom, depending on the perspective. Oileán poetry often engages with issues of language preservation and cultural survival.