Skellig Michael, monastic settlement situated on an island off the coast of County Kerry in southwestern Ireland that was founded between the 6th and 8th centuries.
Skellig Michael, a pyramidal rock nearly 715 feet (218 meters) tall, lies 8 miles (13 km) from the Irish mainland in the Atlantic Ocean. An outstandingly well-preserved early Christian settlement, its name comes from the Irish word sceilg, meaning “steep rock” or “crag,” and from St. Michael the Archangel, to whom it is dedicated. St. Fionán is thought to have founded the settlement in the 6th century, but the earliest written records date from the end of the 8th century.
The settlement is a dramatic expression of the early Christian monastic belief that intimacy with God was best achieved in harsh and isolated settings. There are six slated clocháns, or beehive-shaped cells with dry-stone walls that curve gradually inward, covered with corbelled-stone roofs. Along with two oratories and the monks’ garden, they stand on a terraced shelf at the island’s northeast pinnacle, more than 600 feet (183 meters) above sea level, and are reached by 618 winding steps from the landing stage below. At its largest, the community is thought to have comprised 12 monks and an abbot, but climate change in the 13th century forced the monks’ departure.
Archaeologists have found evidence of the remains of a hermitage near the island’s south peak, built on the ledges of a rock rising vertically from the sea to a height of almost 715 feet (218 meters); this was, in the archaeologists’ words, “a place as near to God as the physical environment would permit.”
By the 16th century Skellig Michael had become a place of religious pilgrimage. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996. It is also known for its large colonies of puffins, gannets, guillemots, and other seabirds.