The towering peaks of Skellig Michael are in the foreground. Little Skellig, a world renowned bird sanctuary lies beyond and - eight miles in the distance - is the coast of County Kerry on the mainland of Ireland.
Many visitors to New Pilgrim Path ask about the significance of the breath-taking images of Skellig Michael on every page.
Just 500 years or so after Christ's death and resurrection, the first monks arrived on Skellig Michael (from the Irish Sceilg Mhichíl, meaning ‘Rock of Michael the Archangel’), an island in the open Atlantic 12km (8 miles) from Ireland's south west coast, lying at the very edge of the then known world. The monastery that they established in this inhospitable environment remains one of the most remarkable testaments to human faith on earth.
Skellig Michael is one of two islands (the other, Little Skellig, is an internationally renowned sea bird sanctuary which has never known human habitation). The larger island was the westernmost sacred site along a long line of ancient pilgrimage places running from Mount Carmel in Palestine through Greece, Italy and France to Ireland.
Skellig Michael has risen to unexpected prominence globally as a location in the massively popular "Star Wars" films. Ancient meets new! Ancient meets new, too, in our 21st century pilgrimage. In bygone days, pilgrims typically stopped at holy sites along their way, to refresh themselves for the next stage of their journey. Today, our touch screens or keyboards can lead us on our path; websites can be the stopping points where we draw strength for our continued journey. New Pilgrim Path was established to help 21st century pilgrims of all Christian denominations along their spiritual journey.
Just 500 years or so after Christ's death and resurrection, the first monks arrived on Skellig Michael (from the Irish Sceilg Mhichíl, meaning ‘Rock of Michael the Archangel’), an island in the open Atlantic 12km (8 miles) from Ireland's south west coast, lying at the very edge of the then known world. The monastery that they established in this inhospitable environment remains one of the most remarkable testaments to human faith on earth.
Skellig Michael is one of two islands (the other, Little Skellig, is an internationally renowned sea bird sanctuary which has never known human habitation). The larger island was the westernmost sacred site along a long line of ancient pilgrimage places running from Mount Carmel in Palestine through Greece, Italy and France to Ireland.
Skellig Michael has risen to unexpected prominence globally as a location in the massively popular "Star Wars" films. Ancient meets new! Ancient meets new, too, in our 21st century pilgrimage. In bygone days, pilgrims typically stopped at holy sites along their way, to refresh themselves for the next stage of their journey. Today, our touch screens or keyboards can lead us on our path; websites can be the stopping points where we draw strength for our continued journey. New Pilgrim Path was established to help 21st century pilgrims of all Christian denominations along their spiritual journey.
This very short video offers stunning aerial footage of Skellig Michael, courtesy of Peter Cox Photography. Note the extraordinary 670-step staircase leading to the monastery, carved out of the rock by monks almost a millennium and a half ago.
The most fantastic and impossible rock in the world: …the Skelligs are pinnacled, crocketed, spired, arched, caverned, minaretted; and these gothic extravagances are not curiosities of the islands: they are the islands: there is nothing else. The rest of the cathedral may be under the sea for all I know…An incredible, impossible, mad place…I tell you the thing does not belong to any world that you and I have lived and worked in: it is part of our dream world. George Bernard Shaw.
The most fantastic and impossible rock in the world: …the Skelligs are pinnacled, crocketed, spired, arched, caverned, minaretted; and these gothic extravagances are not curiosities of the islands: they are the islands: there is nothing else. The rest of the cathedral may be under the sea for all I know…An incredible, impossible, mad place…I tell you the thing does not belong to any world that you and I have lived and worked in: it is part of our dream world. George Bernard Shaw.
Skellig Michael. Image courtesy of Patsy Lynch (@patsylynch)
Skellig Michael was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1996: "All the physical components of the ideal small monastery exist on Skellig: isolation, difficulty in accessing the site, living spaces, buildings for worship and plots for food production. Here, amongst dramatic and unique settings, the indigenous stone architecture of a past millennium is intact... Skellig Michael is the most spectacularly situated of all Early Medieval island monastic sites, particularly the isolated hermitage perched on narrow, human-made terraces just below the South Peak." UNESCO.
"The Edge of Europe"
This extremely informative 40-minute documentary traces the story of early Christian monks who lived, worked and worshipped on the magnificent Skellig Islands off the coast of Kerry. Presented by Paddy Bushe and featuring the music of Noirín Ní Riain and the monks of Glenstal Abbey.
A 10-minute film by Ringlever Images showing the natural beauty of Skellig Michael and its monastic settlement.
The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael
The hermitage is marked with an arrow. Here the monk lived in utter solitude, as close to God as possible, in what is perhaps the ne plus ultra of ecstatic monastic solitude.
For one early monk on Skellig Michael, even the austere conditions of the monastic settlement were not sufficiently challenging. On the South Peak of the island a 9th century monk built a tiny hermitage on a small ledge overhanging the Atlantic, a sheer drop 700 feet below. Because of its inaccessibility, the hermitage was only discovered in recent times. An enthralling and richly illustrated book - which you can read here online - is a dramatically told account of of this extraordinary monument.
Forgotten Hermitage in the Desert of the Sea: The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael by Walter Horn, Grellan D. Rourke, Jenny W. Marshall, and Paddy O’Leary [University of California Press, 1990].
Forgotten Hermitage in the Desert of the Sea: The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael by Walter Horn, Grellan D. Rourke, Jenny W. Marshall, and Paddy O’Leary [University of California Press, 1990].
A "Thin" Place
Skellig Michael has been described as one of the world's greatest "thin places" - places at the convergence of the earthly and the spiritual worlds. This 30-minute video by Lightkeepers Films captures the otherworldly quality of the island.
Ancient Meets New
VISITING SKELLIG MICHAEL
Visiting Skellig Michael is not for the faint-hearted! If you are contemplating a visit, you should view this video.
Visiting Skellig Michael is not for the faint-hearted! If you are contemplating a visit, you should view this video.