Two teachers have been announced as this year's caretakers of An Blascaod Mór in west Kerry.
34-year-old Darren McFadden, from Celbridge, Co Kildare, and Emma Melay, 26, from Bunclody, Co Wexford, were chosen out of 300 people across the world who applied for the role.
From 1 April to 1 October, the couple's day-to-day will involve running a coffee shop, which they will live above, as well as tending to four holiday cottages and guests during the busy summer season.
With no electricity and all of their food being resourced from the mainland, the pair are in for a shock to the system, but it is one they are looking forward to.
"We are really excited about it and a little bit overwhelmed as we never expected to be chosen," Mr McFadden said.
"We’ll miss being away from our family and friends, but we’ll be meeting lots of interesting people.
"We’ve started packing, we hope to get the boat out there in the next few days depending on the weather, but we are looking forward to it and the change of lifestyle," he added.
Neither he nor his partner have been to An Blascaod Mór before, but it was a desire for adventure and life at a different pace that was the motivation behind applying for the job last October.
But really the process began two years ago when the couple bought a campervan and soon after that decided to take a career break from teaching to travel around Ireland.
They got a taste for island living when they applied for a job at a bar on Inis Oírr last summer.
Their upcoming job will be the couples’ third time working together after they met teaching at Celbridge Community School in Co Kildare.
He said: "We’ve been doing a lot of research to get a better understanding of the island and we know it’s not just going to be a holiday or about relaxing all the time.
"When we worked on Inis Oírr, it was hard, but we loved it over there and met lots of different people and made new friends.
"We got a flavour of island life over there and really enjoyed it.
"We both have a bit of Irish, and we’re looking forward to making an effort to get back into that and speak Irish every day."
He said that given the amount of people that apply for the job, they did not get their hopes up over being chosen.
Mr McFadden said: "We are delighted and feel very lucky.
"Maybe we don’t know exactly what we’ve getting into, but we aren’t worried or fearful, we’re looking forward to throwing ourselves in at the deep end.
"Hopefully we get a good summer weather wise but we are looking forward to the idea of being cut off, even if a storm comes I think we’ll enjoy that as we just want to experience all sides and surprises of the island."
Not scared of adventure, it was while walking the Camino in Spain and Portugal last year that the couple decided to apply.
"We both love teaching and we do miss it, but we gave up our jobs just to see where we'd end up, and we’re loving it so far. We didn’t think we’d end up here now and taking on this particular new adventure," Mr McFadden said.
The application number for the role was recently capped due to a high level of interest in recent years, with applications assessed by locals Alice Hayes and Billy O'Connor.
Ms Hayes said that the couple stood out because of how content they were with a quieter way of life.
She said: "Emma and Darren came across really down to earth, easy to chat to and enthusiastic about the role.
"When we FaceTimed in January, they were sitting in Darren’s grandmother house, located in a remote part of Donegal and explained how they enjoyed going without basic amenities, no Wi-Fi etc., a similar setup to the Island, which stuck in our heads."
As a result of travelling so much in the campervan, Mr McFadden said both he and Emma are not afraid of cabin fever or living in confined spaces.
He said: "We are hoping to use these six months over on the island to figure out our next plan. We love new challenges and experiences, and it’s great to be able to get to do these things in Ireland.
"Living in the van gave us an opportunity to have more adventures. You can travel everywhere on a whim, and stay in very scenic places, so you wake up to the best views in Ireland. It gives you a lot of freedom, and that’ll be true on the island as well.
"We are used to living on top of each other, but it’ll be interesting to see how our relationship might change as a result of this."
To add to their skillset, before they became teachers, Mr McFadden worked as a tour guide travelling all over Ireland while the couple have also both worked in hotels so have some experience in hospitality.
"We’re both easy going types of people, we enjoy sea swimming and hikes but we don’t mind being stuck inside if the weather is bad, we actually find it cosy," he said.
"Waking up to that scenery every day will be brilliant and we’re looking forward to having more time to enjoy the solitude in the evening times as well."
