Lucky young couple lands gig taking care of uninhabited Irish island

Camille Rosenfeld and James Hayes have landed what feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The young couple has been chosen to be the caretakers of one of Ireland’s most remote and breathtaking locations: Great Blasket Island.  

“Oh my gosh … it seems like such a dream come true,” Rosenfeld told As It Happens’ host Nil Köksal. 

“You wouldn’t even think it would be a possibility…. We feel really lucky that we were chosen.” 

Starting in April, the couple will spend six months living on this 1,100 acre island off the west coast of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. They currently live in Tralee, which is about 80 kilometres away by land and sea.   

The island is covered in a lush emerald-green landscape, with rolling hills and spectacular cliffs, encircled by lapping turquoise waves.

Dotted with relics and ruins from a bygone past, it’s also deeply rooted in rich Irish heritage and history. 

Once home to a tight-knit Gaelic-speaking community, the island became deserted in 1953 when its last inhabitants were taken to the mainland so they could access what the island didn’t have — emergency services for the aging population and milder winters. 

Since then, it’s been left largely untouched, allowing nature to reclaim the land.

Rosenfeld hasn’t stepped foot on the island yet, but on a recent hike nearby, she says it’s a sight to behold.

“It’s just so green, the greenest grass you’d ever see,” she said.  

“During a few weeks in the summer, there’s these beautiful purple flowers that bloom all across the fields. It looks like something from the Wizard of Oz.” 

The island is also teeming with wildlife. The caretakers from last year say there are sharks, seals, sheep, whales, dolphins and rabbits.

Getting the gig 

The caretaking position was advertised by Peter O’Connor and his wife Alice Hayes, who live on the mainland. But they own the five holiday cottages and a small café on Great Blasket, which the new caretakers will oversee. 

When the hiring couple first posted the live-in seasonal position in January 2020, they were flooded with 80,000 applications. They have since limited the number they will consider to 300.

Even so, it’s a large pool, and James Hayes isn’t entirely sure why they were chosen. 

“They’re lovely people and we got on so well,” said Hayes, of the interview 

“We don’t really know why, other than that I think they just think they can get along with us, and that we seem like nice people that are going to work hard.” 

Hayes actually grew up elsewhere in County Kerry. He says even before the opportunity to work there came up, he was already enchanted by the island, and paid it a visit during college. 

“It really captured my imagination at the time,” he said. 

“It’s always been on my radar … the history of the island; it’s kind of a cultural landmark.” 

And it didn’t take much convincing for Rosenfeld, who’s from Minnesota, to get on board when Hayes asked if she wanted to apply. 

“I suggested it to Camille, and she was totally for it,” he said. 

Excitement in anticipation 

The windswept island doesn’t have electricity, hot water, or Wi-Fi, but what it does have is what Rosenfeld yearns for. 

“Just being disconnected is such a luxury in the times that we live in now,” she said. 

Rosenfeld says she’s also excited to welcome visitors who are drawn there for the same reasons.  

“The idea of getting to meet all of those people who are attracted to the island in the same kind way that we are, that’s really exciting,” said Rosenfeld. 

“The chance to do that in a place where you can hear the ocean and see the stars and live by the candlelight is amazing.” 

As a professional artist, Hayes says he’ll be seeking inspiration for his next body of work. 

“What better place to be than an island like this?” 

Unsurprisingly, they’ve already thought about what could be the most difficult part of this whole experience — leaving the island when the end of September rolls around. 

“I think that’ll be the most challenging part … trying to find somewhere to live, and I’ll need to get a job,” said Rosenfeld. 

“I’m just not trying to think about that part yet.”