Skellig Michael

Skellig Michael is a dramatic pinnacle of rock rising two hundred metres from the Atlantic off the Kerry coast, where monks built a remote monastery sometime between the sixth and eighth centuries. A UNESCO site of dry-stone beehive huts clinging to the summit, reached by six hundred ancient steps and alive with puffins, it is one of the most extraordinary places in Ireland, made famous anew by Star Wars.

History

Legend links the rock to Irr, son of Míl, said to have drowned and been buried here, and to Duagh, a 5th-century king of West Munster said to have fled to it, but the first certain record of the monastery is the 8th-century death of Suibhini of Skelig; it was founded sometime between the 6th and 8th centuries, by tradition by Saint Fionán, though historians doubt it. Vikings plundered it in 823, carrying off the abbot Eitgal, who died of hunger, and again in 838; probably no more than twelve monks and an abbot lived here at any one time, and the monastery was occupied until the late 12th or early 13th century and stayed a place of pilgrimage afterwards. It belonged to the Canons Regular until the dissolution of Ballinskelligs Abbey in 1578, then to the Butler family until the early 1820s, when the Port of Dublin corporation bought it for 500 pounds and built two lighthouses, finished by 1826. The Office of Public Works took the monastic remains into guardianship in 1880, the island became a World Heritage Site in 1996, and it stood in for the planet Ahch-To in two Star Wars films (Wikipedia, Skellig Michael).

What's there

• The monastery - the cluster of ancient dry-stone beehive huts on the summit.
• The ancient steps - the steep stone stairway climbing from the landing.
• Puffins and seabirds - the huge seabird colonies, including puffins in summer.
• The Atlantic setting - the jagged rock rising sheer from the ocean.

When to go

The short season from mid-May to September, when boats run and landings are permitted, entirely subject to the weather and the sea. Landing places are strictly limited and book far ahead.

Things to know

Landing is weather-dependent and often cancelled, and the limited permits sell out months ahead, so it takes planning and luck. The climb of six hundred unguarded ancient steps is steep and not for those with vertigo or poor mobility. Eco boat tours that circle without landing are an alternative.

Nearby

Portmagee and the Skellig Ring coast are the base; the Ring of Kerry is nearby.

Key facts