History

Irish monasticism in the early medieval period sought the most remote and inhospitable places on earth as settings for contemplative life — an ascetic tradition the monks called the “white martyrdom” of voluntary exile. Skellig Michael represented the outer limit of that impulse: an almost vertical island lashed by Atlantic storms, accessible only in calm weather, with no soil, no fresh water beyond what could be collected from rain, and no flat ground on which to build. The monks solved each of these problems with extraordinary engineering. They carved 618 steps into the cliff face from sea level to the summit, terraced the rock to create the six level platforms on which they built their huts, and constructed dry-stone corbelled buildings so sophisticated that they have required almost no structural intervention in 1,400 years.

The monastery survived Viking raids in 812 and 823 AD — documented in the Annals of Ulster — and its community continued expanding until the 12th century, when changing monastic practice and increasingly harsh Atlantic winters drove the monks to establish a more accessible house at Ballinskelligs on the mainland. The island was subsequently used by a small lighthouse-keeping community from 1826 until automation in 1987, which explains the rough stone paths below the monastic level. The lighthouse keepers’ cottages and the original 1820s lighthouse remain visible from the landing steps.

When J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan were developing Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), aerial photographs of Skellig Michael caught their attention as a real-world analogue for the mythic island they envisioned as Luke Skywalker’s retreat. Filming required a special heritage permit and careful choreography around the island’s bird colonies (over 35,000 pairs of Atlantic puffins nest on the island between April and August). The production used the actual stone paths and huts of the monastery as the backdrop for Rey’s arrival at Ahch-To, with the six clochán visible in full in several scenes.