Posts

Posted on

“Only Resident of Écréhous” – UK

Aeon presents a 1987 BBC video production from the series “Nationwide: Remote Britain.” The video is titled “The Only Resident of Écréhous.” Byline: “Why one man spent 15 years in ‘self-imposed’ island exile.” Here is a summary from Aeon“:

“Born on Jersey in the Channel Islands (part of the British Crown Dependency), Alphonse Le Gastelois (1914-2012) moved to the small, only seasonally inhabited Écréhous island chain roughly six miles away in 1961, after being wrongly suspected of a series of heinous sexual assaults. Relocating for his own safety and peace of mind, he remained there, living mostly in isolation, until 1975, even after he was proven innocent when the string of attacks continued in his absence and the real culprit was finally caught in 1971. First broadcast in 1978, this clip from the BBC series Nationwide: Remote Britain tells Le Gastelois’s incredible story of ‘self-imposed exile’, including his formal attempt to become ‘King of the Écréhous’ – a request that would ultimately go unfulfilled in law, if not in legend. Depicting the power of unfounded rumour and gossip to derail a life, his story is one that echoes with amplified intensity in the internet age.”

URL (Aeon): https://aeon.co/videos/why-one-man-spent-15-years-in-self-imposed-island-exile; (YouTube): https://youtu.be/5AFNq8G_K3Y?si=H22zlaY0oWjOP

Posted on

Hermit faces eviction from 50-year-old cave home

From the web site News.com.au, comes this item with the byline: “For over 50 years, a self-described hermit has carved out a cave home for himself by the sea, because he loves the sound of the ocean. But now authorities want him out.”

This blog has noted similar articles about the hermit : in 2013 and 2022. Search the category “Israel” for the entries.

URL: https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/hermit-faces-eviction-from-50yearold-cave-home/news-story/8043bf8f3d75636e4bd9eaeea5fea8a8

Posted on

Mauro Morandi – update

INews of the UK includes this update on Mauro Morandi, recently evicted from his island eremitism. Article title: ‘People can be overwhelming’: Hermit’s misery after he was kicked off Italian paradise isle”. Article byline: “Mauro Morandi, 84, says he misses the silence after 33 years as the sole occupant of an island off Sardinia.” First lines of the article:

“For 33 years, Mauro Morandi lived the life of a hermit on the Italian paradise island of Budelli, off the north coast of Sardinia popular for its pink coral beach.

“As the island’s caretaker, he lived alone in a ramshackle hut in the company of birds, and found it blissful. Three years ago, the marine park authorities of La Maddalena archipelago kicked him off the isle, with plans to build a museum.

“Morandi crashed back down to earth. He went from a life of freedom on the sand, surrounded by nature and the sea breeze, to sleeping in a small apartment on the nearby island of La Maddalena, a tourist hotspot with 15,000 residents.”

Check the category “Italy” for more entries on Morandi.

URL: https://inews.co.uk/news/world/people-overwhelming-hermit-kicked-off-italian-paradise-isle-2651700

Posted on

95-year-old threatened with eviction from Cape Cod shack

The Associated Press carries this news item from Providence, Massachuisetts. Article title: “95-year-old painter threate edwith eviction from Cape Coddune shack wins five-year reprieve.The article is here reprinted in its entirety.

“A 95-year-old painter and his family threatened with eviction from the Provincetown, Massachusetts, dune shack they have helped care for and occupy for nearly eight decades have won a reprieve.

“A legal team representing the painter worked out an agreement with federal officials that allows Salvatore Del Deo and his family to continue to live in and maintain the shack for five years, according to his son Romolo Del Deo. A legal team representing the painter worked out an agreement with federal officials that allows Salvatore Del Deo and his family to continue to live in and maintain the shack for five years, according to his son Romolo Del Deo.

“The shack is one of a number dotting the more remote reaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore, located within the Peaked Hill Bars Historic District in Provincetown and Truro. The isolated shacks have no electricity or indoor plumbing and are prized for their uninterrupted solitude.

“The family was abruptly evicted by the National Park Service during the summer when the agency opted to start a bidding process to let the public apply for up to 10-year-leases to occupy eight of the shacks. The shack occupied by the Del Deos was not among the eight, but could be included in future bidding rounds.”

URL: https://apnews.com/article/cape-cod-dune-shack-eviction-massachusetts-painter-a437446ee4394bdbe4261d02d383af81

Posted on

Sister Irene, Irish hermit

BBC Everyman series incliuded the 1993 documentary about Sister Irene, an Irish Cathoic hermit living in a cottage. The documentary is titled “First Irish Professed Hermit.” (Sister Irene later transferred to or created for herself a Carmelite convent : Carmelites of the Holy Face in Dunmanway, Co. Cork, Ireland ) The documentary is titled “First Irish Professed Hermit.”

URL: complete (60:06) https://youtu.be/p-QbNOg-MVc?si=vPWUKTEP-0WfJhHF;
Shorter version in two parts: URLs part 1 (19:53) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbDf6Jm3HaM; and part 2 (13:10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJAaUz9YeG8&pp=ygUMYmJjIGV2ZXJ5bWFu ;
Carmekiute foundation URL: https://carmelitesholyface.com/