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Love at first sight for new Blasket islands caretakers

It was definitely love at first sight...

Whatever about the meeting between Niamh Kelleher, from Kilfinane, Co Limerick, and Jack Cakebread, from La Rochelle in France, when the couple set their gaze west from Slea Head towards An Blascaod Mór, they were smitten straight away.

Niamh and Jack met just over two years ago in France. The following year, Niamh convinced Jack to tour the Wild Atlantic Way.

Driving west from Dingle, they both fell in love with the Blasket islands from afar, but bad weather - or maybe bad planning on their part - meant they could not visit on the day.

They resolved to return together, although neither could have envisaged at the time that it would be as the new caretakers of An Blascaod Mór.

Billy O'Connor's family have owned property on the island since the 1970s.

Billy O'Connor

A few years ago, Billy renovated some of the island's houses - one of them was Peig Sayers' last home - to rent them to tourists who were looking for a different, away-from-it-all kind of holiday: no electricity; no shop; little running water.

On one occasion, when Billy advertised for caretakers for the houses, he and his partner Alice were inundated with 40,000 applications.

This time, Billy capped the applications at 1,000, but they came from all over the world.

While Niamh and Jack had been a couple for over two years, they were living in separate countries: Niamh was back home in Co Limerick, while Jack, who's a British citizen, was based in La Rochelle.

Niamh saw the advertisement for caretakers on An Blascaod Mór on RTÉ's Nationwide programme. She rang Jack and they submitted their application, interviewing online with Billy and Alice.

They never expected they would actually get the jobs, but they did.

"Well," explains Billy O'Connor, "we were just looking for a friendly couple who weren't afraid of a bit of hard work to come out here and get stuck in. Niamh and Jack had a great application, so we went with them and we are delighted."

It was two years since Niamh and Jack had first seen An Blascaod Mór and fallen in love with it. In the intervening time, they had researched the island, its rich literary legacy, history, flora and fauna. And now they were going to be spending the summer there, together.

As an aside, Niamh and Jack had also spent two months apart from each other, before they met Billy O'Connor on the pier in Dingle to load what belongings they could onto his Blasket-bound boat.

Their absence was induced by Brexit - but Jack's residency here has now been resolved.

The two years since they first saw An Blascaod Mór had built expectations in Niamh and Jack, but just days into their tenure as caretakers of the island, it is clear that those expectations have already been met, and perhaps even surpassed.

"So we took the boat over from Dingle and just that first boat ride was amazing," says Niamh.

"We were both standing at the back of the boat, taking all the views in. Then we were coming up to the island and it started lashing rain as we took all our luggage up - I suppose it added to the adventure."

Jack was equally taken; the wait for him was worthwhile.

"I think we were both blown away by the beauty of it," he says. "Everything came together and it was just amazing, to be honest."

The view from Peig Sayers' house

Niamh and Jack's living expenses on the island will be paid, and they will also receive a wage for their work, but their expectations and their motivation go beyond money.

"You know, we have never really been the type to be too worried about money and it's not really something we think about at the moment," says Niamh.

"We just want to enjoy the summer and we will think about that after. Yeah, we're pretty chilled about that."

Niamh has her focus set on something she regards as far more valuable than money.

"I think having the memories forever is the most important to us," she replies of their time as caretakers of the island.

"It's amazing to say that we have lived on the Blaskets for a couple of months - that's pretty cool."

Jack already expects to have difficulty leaving at the end of the season.

"I have spent the last six days actually wondering about how they are going to get us to leave at the end of the summer," he says. "I don't think we will want to."