A Desert in the Ocean
Skellig Michael, a pinnacle of Devonian sandstone rising 218 meters from the Atlantic, is located 11.6 kilometers west of the Iveragh Peninsula. Sometime between the 6th and 8th centuries, early Christian monks seeking extreme isolation founded a monastery on its steep slopes. The name "Skellig" derives from the Irish word sceilig, meaning a splinter of stone. To create a place for their settlement, the monks constructed massive dry-stone retaining walls, creating level terraces on the precipitous rock face. The monastery itself sits on a shelf 180 meters above the sea.
The settlement consists of six corbelled beehive huts, known as clocháns, where the monks lived. These structures were built without mortar, using a technique where stones are progressively layered inward to form a conical, waterproof roof. While the huts appear circular externally, their interior spaces are rectangular. The site also contains two oratories, a later mortared church, a cemetery with carved stone crosses, and garden plots. Water was collected in rock-cut cisterns. To reach the monastery from the sea, monks carved three separate stairways from different landing points on the island; the main accessible route today has 618 steps.
Life on the Edge of the World
The monastic community likely numbered no more than twelve monks and an abbot at any given time. Their existence was one of prayer and self-sufficiency in a harsh environment. Archaeological evidence shows their diet consisted of fish, seabirds like puffins and Manx shearwaters, and eggs gathered from the island's vast colonies. Remains of goat, sheep, and cattle indicate they also kept some livestock, and they cultivated small vegetable gardens on the man-made terraces.
This isolation was not total. The monastery was a target for Viking raids, with the first recorded attack occurring in 823 or 824 AD. During one raid, the abbot, Étgal, was captured and reportedly died of starvation. Despite these attacks, the community persisted for centuries. The monastery was dedicated to Saint Michael, the archangel associated with high places, sometime between 950 and 1050. The monks eventually abandoned the island for the mainland in the 12th or 13th century, likely due to a cooling climate that brought more severe storms. The site continued as a destination for pilgrimage for centuries afterward. In 1996, Skellig Michael was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its exceptional preservation and record of early Christian monasticism.