Sceilg Mhichil [Great Skellig]

About Sceilg Mhichil [Great Skellig]

Rising abruptly from the Atlantic, this jagged sandstone pyramid is defined by its twin peaks and the central Christ’s Saddle. Reached by boat from Portmagee, the ascent involves over 600 ancient, hand-hewn stone steps. It’s a steep, exposed environment where puffins outnumber people among the remarkably preserved monastic beehive huts.

Key Statistics

Find It

Did You Know?

• •The name is derived from the Irish word 'sceilig', meaning a splinter or shard of stone. The dedication to the Archangel Michael is characteristic of high, precipitous sites across Europe, where the saint was often venerated as a protector in dangerous, elevated locations.
• •The early Christian monastery on the northern peak was built between the 6th and 8th centuries. Its six beehive cells (clocháns) were constructed using dry-stone corbelling, a technique that has allowed them to remain remarkably weather-tight despite over a millennium of Atlantic storms.
• •Access to the monastic site requires climbing 618 stone steps. These were originally part of three separate ascent routes—the East, South, and North steps—designed to allow the monks to land their boats and reach the summit regardless of which way the sea was running.
• •The summit offers a staggering perspective of Little Skellig (Sceilig Bheag) just to the east. This neighbouring rock appears permanently white from a distance because it hosts one of the largest northern gannet colonies in the world, with over 20,000 breeding pairs.
• •While most visitors focus on the monastery, the island is also a Marilyn, meaning it has a topographic prominence of at least 150 metres. This is achieved because the seabed around the Skelligs drops away sharply, leaving the peaks isolated from the mainland Iveragh Peninsula.
• •The island's South Peak contains a separate, more isolated hermitage. Reaching it involves navigating a terrifyingly narrow ledge known as 'The Needle’s Eye', a route so hazardous that it is strictly off-limits to the general public.
• •The monks who settled here were evidently seeking total isolation, though today’s visitors might find that a commute involving 600 vertical stone steps and a 12-kilometre boat ride is taking the desire for a 'quiet life' to a bit of an extreme.