Two caretaking vacancies for the Great Blasket Island, which lies off the coast of County Kerry are to be posted on social media this week.
Billy O’Connor and his partner Alice Hayes, who own three cottages and a coffee shop on the island, are offering the amazing job opportunity to a pair of friends or a couple and will look at applications from basically anywhere in the world.
With no hot running water and electricity, the Great Blasket Island, or otherwise known as An Blascaod Mór, is the main island in the group of six which lie about three miles off the coast of the stunning Dingle Peninsula in Kerry.
Home to diverse animal, sea and plant life, the island is one of Ireland’s most iconic, having been inhabited for centuries by a small, close-knit native speaking population who followed the traditional ways of farming, fishing and weaving.
Stretching over 1,100 acres of unspoiled, largely mountainous terrain, the Great Blasket Island is approximately four miles long by half a mile wide, alive with local history and offers a pristine natural environment.
The island was once home to the late, great female author and storyteller Peig Sayers, whose writings were required reading in schools, and at one stage the islanders were the subject of important linguistic studies for their use of a largely unchanged version of the native language.
At its peak, the island’s population was only around 175 residents and it was finally vacated in 1954 following a decline in population alongside concerns about the difficulty of reaching it in the event of an emergency.
Today, a boat trip through the incredible coastal scenery and tour of the island is one of the best experiences to be had on the beautiful Dingle Peninsula.
There are still some ancient ruins for visitors to explore, and simple, self-catering accommodation is also available in five restored cottages.
Last year more than 40,000 applications for two summer caretaker jobs on the island were received, as enquiries flooded in by phone, email, social media and paper applications from around the world and from as far afield as Mexico, Finland and Argentina.
The deluge of applications prompted widespread international media attention. Barely a week after the job was listed more than 23,000 people had applied – and this time the dream job is likely to draw much interest once again.
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