Reasons to Visit Skellig Michael
7 Reasons to Visit Skellig Michael at Least Once in Your Lifetime
To visit Skellig Michael is to see a fortress of stone rising from the Atlantic, a place where monks once carved out a life of prayer, where puffins still scatter like sparks across the cliffs, and where even Star Wars came to borrow its otherworldly power.
In this guide, we’ll explore seven reasons why this island has captured imaginations for more than a thousand years: from its UNESCO World Heritage monastery and stone beehive huts, to the seabird sanctuary alive with puffins and gannets, to its role as Luke Skywalker’s refuge. You’ll also learn what it takes to climb its historic steps, what views to expect from its twin peaks, and why pilgrims – then and now – feel something beyond words on this remote edge of the world.
If you’re ready to see it for yourself, explore The Ultimate Skellig Coast Tour or step ashore with the Skellig Michael Landing Adventure. However you choose to go, make sure you do, visiting Skellig Michael will stick with you.
Visit Skellig Michael Island for Its UNESCO World Heritage Status
UNESCO may call it a World Heritage Site, but labels are only one way of saying: this place matters. It matters because monks once climbed its rock-cut steps and built stone beehive huts that still cling to the cliffs. It matters because those same walls held against wind and salt, against centuries of storm.
In 1996, Skellig Michael was added to UNESCO’s list, recognized for the way human devotion shaped a harsh and unlikely landscape. At 218 meters above sea level, the monastery perches on narrow terraces just below the summit – oratories, cisterns, and seven beehive cells all bound by hand-built walls. Three stairways, cut into the rock, once led pilgrims up from different landing places depending on the weather. Today, only the south steps remain open to visitors, a steep climb that still echoes with prayer.
Some travelers come chasing that UNESCO title, the reassurance that this is not just a rock but a world treasure. Others couldn’t care less about titles – they come because the place itself whispers of devotion, survival, and silence. Whether you bow to the weight of recognition or simply to the wind that blows across the Atlantic, the truth is the same: Skellig Michael has stood outside of time, waiting for you.
Discover the Ancient Monastic Settlement and Stone Beehive Huts
High on the eastern slope of Skellig Michael, just below the summit, lies a settlement unlike any other. The monks who came here in the 6th century carved their life out of the rock itself. They built seven stone beehive huts, small domes of dry-stone masonry where they slept, prayed, and endured. Even now, they cling to narrow terraces supported by walls that defy storms and time itself.
The heart of the monastery holds two oratories and a mortared church, where chants once rose above the roar of the Atlantic. Around them, cisterns gathered precious rainwater, and a cemetery gave rest to those who never left the island. The monks planted gardens on terraces they walled by hand, and marked their days with stone crosses and leachta – simple altars set into the rock.
To reach this place, you climb through Christ’s Saddle, the narrow valley between the twin peaks. It is a passage both physical and spiritual. Here, the wind tears at you, seabirds cry overhead, and each step feels like part of the old pilgrimage & spirituality.
Marvel at the Puffins and the Seabird Sanctuary
If the stones of Skellig Michael speak of silence and prayer, the air belongs to the birds. Their cries are the soundtrack of the island – sharp, wild, endless – rising and falling with the waves that pound against the rock.
The Puffins
Between April and August, more than 3,000 puffins claim Skellig Michael. They waddle through the grass with their bright orange feet and painted bills, comic on land, and then suddenly transform – darting over the sea, black-and-white wings beating fast. They are the beloved clowns of the ocean, and for a few months, they are everywhere.
The Gannets
Just across the water on Little Skellig, an immense colony of 27,000 pairs of gannets nests – the second largest in the world. They are birds built for the sea: long wings stretching to two meters, bodies arrowing down from the sky to strike the waves at breathtaking speed. From Skellig Michael, you can watch their white and gold bodies wheel like a storm.
The Razorbills and Guillemots
The cliffs ring with the voices of razorbills and guillemots. The razorbills, heavy-billed and black-and-white, stand in pairs on the ledges. The guillemots crowd together in dark ranks, plunging into the sea and swimming under the water with the beat of their wings. They are tireless hunters, and their sharp cries mingle with the sound of surf.
The Black Guillemot
Look closer and you may see the black guillemot, smaller and striking – black plumage, a white wing patch, and the sudden flash of red legs and feet. In summer they stand out against the rock, while in winter their feathers pale to grey and white, but their call and their presence endure.
Here, birds are not background. They are part of the island’s voice, the unbroken chorus that has filled the air for as long as there have been waves. The monks once prayed to that sound; today, you will hear it too.
Experience Skellig Michael as a Star Wars Filming Location
When J.J. Abrams first saw photos of Skellig Michael, he said simply: “I love you. This is the best.” It became Ahch-To, Luke Skywalker’s island sanctuary in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
Few film locations feel as real, as otherworldly, as this. Rey’s climb up the ancient stone steps mirrors the monks who once did the same, and the wind that whips across Christ’s Saddle on screen is the same wind you’ll feel when you stand there yourself.
Other cliffs in Ireland filled in for certain shots, but only Skellig Michael could hold the weight of a galaxy’s myth. That’s why fans now come as pilgrims too – to walk where Luke stood, and to see the Atlantic spread out like another universe.
Climb the Historic Stone Steps to the Monastery
There are three stairways cut into Skellig Michael, each once used by monks depending on the sea and weather. The north and east steps, touched later by lighthouse builders, are now closed. Only the south steps remain open, rising steeply from the landing and meeting at Christ’s Saddle before climbing toward the monastery.
They are not easy. The Atlantic wind presses against you, the stone is worn, and there are no handrails. But that is the point. Each step carries the weight of centuries of pilgrims, monks, devotees, and now tourists. The climb is part of the story – demanding, humbling, and unforgettable.
Take in Breathtaking Atlantic Ocean Views
The view is not only in the distance. It’s beneath your boots, in the very bones of the island. Skellig Michael is carved from Devonian sandstone – red and brown rock laid down 360 million years ago, when Ireland lay south of the equator. Over time, the stone was folded and fractured, pushed into peaks by the slow violence of the earth. That is why the island rises the way it does: two jagged summits, split by a saddle, their cliffs sheer against the Atlantic.
The texture of the rock tells its age. Fine layers of sediment pressed into toughness, cross-cut by joints that form diamond-shaped fractures. In some places, the stone is brittle and friable, eroded by sea and storm. Elsewhere, it holds sharp edges, rising in ribs and ledges that seem designed for seabirds to claim. Rust-red, slate-grey, sometimes lichen-green – the colours shift with light and weather, always raw, always elemental.
Stand on Christ’s Saddle, the valley between the peaks, and you feel how the geology commands the shape of everything: the monastery terraces, the steps, even the outlines of prayer stations clinging to the cliffs.
Connect with the Spirit of Pilgrimage and Spirituality
The monastery on Skellig Michael was not built for comfort. It was built as an act of faith. Tradition holds that St. Fionán founded it between the 6th and 8th centuries, in the spirit of the Irish monks who sought exile for the love of God. To them, the Atlantic was a desert, and this island their wilderness. They called it peregrinatio pro Dei amore – pilgrimage for the love of God.
That devotion shaped every stone beehive hut, every oratory, every garden terrace carved into the rock. Here, monks chose exile, silence, and prayer. The sea cut them off from the world, and that was the point: to live on the edge of survival, to measure time by chant and tide.
Climbing through Christ’s Saddle and standing in the monastery terraces, you feel it – a stillness beneath the seabirds and the waves, something that makes you pause. Many call it spirituality, others simply a sense of presence. Whatever name you give it, the island still carries the weight of devotion carved into its stone.
FAQ
Yes. Few places in the world combine history, wildlife, and raw Atlantic wilderness in quite this way.
A landing visit usually takes half a day, enough time to climb, explore, and sit with the view.
Ticket prices vary by tour – check the Ultimate Skellig Coast Tour or the Skellig Michael Landing Adventure for up-to-date details.
Yes. The south steps are steep, with no handrails. It is challenging but deeply rewarding.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi – Skellig Michael became Ahch-To, Luke Skywalker’s refuge.
No. There are no accommodations; visits are strictly daytime only.
Safe if you take care. The terrain is steep, the steps uneven, and the weather unpredictable – respect the island, and it will reward you.
