Couple quit their 9-5 jobs to live on an abandoned Irish island without hot water or electricity – and even the emergency services struggle to reach them in bad weather
- Lesley Kehoe, 27, and Gordon Bond, 29, left their city jobs for life on an island
- The couple grew tired of commuting from Kildare to Dublin for work
- Applied for a job on An Blascaod Mor, or the Great Blasket Island, off Co Kerry
- Couple now take care of the hostel and live without hot water or electricity
A couple quit their city jobs to live on a remote abandoned island off the coast of Ireland.
Lesley Kehoe, 27, who worked at a Seamus Heaney exhibition, and civil service worker Gordon Bond, 29, enjoyed their jobs but had grown tired of the monotony of commuting from Kildare to Dublin.
In January they spotted a job for a hostel keeper on An Blascaod Mor, or the Great Blasket Island, the largest of the Blasket Islands, off the coast of Co Kerry.
Lesley Kehoe, 27, who worked at a Seamus Heaney exhibition, and civil service worker Gordon Bond, 29, enjoyed their jobs but had grown tired of city life. The couple (pictured) now live on An Blascaod Mor, or the Great Blasket Island, where they have no electricity or hot water
An Blascaod Mor was inhabited until 1953 when the Irish government decided it could no longer guarantee the safety of its residents. Pictured, stock image of buildings on the island
The couple’s application was successful and they now live without electricity or hot water and can be cut off from the mainland for days at a time in bad weather.
Speaking to the Irish Sunday Mirror, Lesley said: ‘There’s a wind turbine which powers a socket so we have one socket for the whole place – it wouldn’t be powerful enough to run a hoover or anything but it can charge my phone.
She continued: ‘I said I was going to heat up water every day, that I’d never have a cold shower – but to be honest you’d be upstairs and dressed by the time you’d have the water heated in the kettle so I just decided to brave it.’
An Blascaod Mor was inhabited until 1953 when the Irish government decided it could no longer guarantee the safety of its residents as the emergency services struggled to reach it in bad weather.
The remote setting means Lesley and Gordon rely on phoning in their shopping list to the mainland. Pictured, Great Blasket Island, off the coast of Co Kerry
The remote setting means Lesley and Gordon rely on phoning in their shopping list to the mainland. Supplies are delivered by boats from Dingle, Bantry and Dunquin.
The couple also take extra precaution to avoid injury or illness while on the island as reaching medical services can be difficult, particularly in bad weather.
While they are believed to be the only full-time residents of the island, they are often joined by visitors at the hostel.
The job comes to an end in October but Lesley said she struggles to imagine a return to a typical job.
‘I think living here has shown us what works for us and what doesn’t and this pace of life definitely suits us,’ she said. ‘I don’t see us going back to work in Dublin any time soon.’
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