The Skellig Islands ( ga, Na Scealaga), once known as "the Skellocks", are two small, steep, and rocky islands lying about west of Bolus Head on the Iveragh Peninsula in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. The larger of the two is Skellig Michael (also known as Great Skellig) which, together with

Little Skellig Little Skellig (Irish: ''Sceilig Bheag'') is an unhabitable island in the Atlantic Ocean, 11 km south-west of Valentia Island in County Kerry, Ireland. It is small than Skellig Michael (54 acres)) its twin island. The two islands rose c ...

, is at the centre of a

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

established by

BirdWatch Ireland BirdWatch Ireland (BWI) is a voluntary conservation organisation devoted to the conservation and protection of wild birds and their habitats in Ireland. It was formerly known as the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (IWC). Irish Wildbird Conservancy was f ...

in 2000. Skellig Michael is also famous for an early Christian monastery that is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Little Skellig

The smaller of the two islands is

(''Sceilig Bheag'' in Irish). () It is Ireland's largest

northern gannet The northern gannet (''Morus bassanus'') is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae. It is native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, breeding in Western Europe and Northeastern North America. It is the largest seabird in t ...

(''Morus bassanus'') colony with almost 30,000 pairs, and is closed to the public. It is also one of the world's largest northern gannet colonies, and is of international importance. The island is tall and is approximately east-northeast of Skellig Michael.

Skellig Michael

Also known as Great Skellig (''Sceilig Mhichíl'' in Irish), this is the larger of the two islands, with two peaks rising to over above sea level. With a sixth-century Christian monastery perched at above sea level on a ledge close to the top of the lower peak, Great Skellig is designated as a

Birdwatch Ireland BirdWatch Ireland (BWI) is a voluntary conservation organisation devoted to the conservation and protection of wild birds and their habitats in Ireland. It was formerly known as the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (IWC). Irish Wildbird Conservancy was f ...

were concerned that the Irish government allowed filming on a seabird sanctuary without third party consent. During the 2014 nesting season,

black-legged kittiwake The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English ...

chicks in nests were swept into the sea by the downdraught from a helicopter and devoured by gulls.

Wildlife

Both of the Skellig islands are known for their

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...

colonies, and together compose one of the most important seabird sites in Ireland, both for the population size and for the species diversity. Among the breeding birds are

European storm petrel The European storm petrel, British storm petrel, or just storm petrel (''Hydrobates pelagicus'') is a seabird in the northern storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae. The small, square-tailed bird is entirely black except for a broad, white rump and ...

(''Hydrobates pelagicus''),

northern fulmar The northern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialis''), fulmar, or Arctic fulmar is a highly abundant seabird found primarily in subarctic regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. There has been one confirmed sighting in the Southern Hem ...

(''Fulmarus glacialis''),

Manx shearwater The Manx shearwater (''Puffinus puffinus'') is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is a ...

(''Puffinus puffinus''),

(''Rissa tridactyla''), common guillemot (''Uria aalge''),

razorbill The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis im ...

(''Alca torda'') and

Atlantic puffin The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin is found in the northeastern ...

(''Fratercula arctica'') (with 4,000 or more puffins on Great Skellig alone).

Red-billed chough The red-billed chough, Cornish chough or simply chough ( ; ''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus '' Pyrrhocorax''. Its eight subspecies breed on mountains and coastal cliffs from the w ...

(''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax'') and

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey bac ...

(''Falco peregrinus'') can also be seen. The surrounding waters have abundant wildlife with many

Grey seal The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. In Latin Halichoerus grypus means "hook-nosed sea pig". It is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" o ...

(''Halichoerus grypus'').

Basking shark The basking shark (''Cetorhinus maximus'') is the second-largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark, and one of three plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Adults typically reach in leng ...

(''Cetorhinus maximus''), minke whale (''Balaenoptera acutorostrata''),

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the b ...

(

Delphinidae Oceanic dolphins or Delphinidae are a widely distributed family of dolphins that live in the sea. Close to forty extant species are recognised. They include several big species whose common names contain "whale" rather than "dolphin", such as the ...

beaked whale Beaked whales ( systematic name Ziphiidae) are a family of cetaceans noted as being one of the least known groups of mammals because of their deep-sea habitat and apparent low abundance. Only three or four of the 24 species are reasonably well- ...

, and

leatherback sea turtle The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weight ...

(''Dermochelys coriacea'') have also been recorded. The islands have many interesting recreational diving sites due to the clear water, an abundance of life, and underwater cliffs down to 60 meters (200 feet).

Filming location

The final scene of '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' was shot on Skellig in July 2015, with additional filming taking place there in September 2015 for ''

The Last Jedi ''Star Wars: The Last Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi'') is a 2017 American epic space opera film written and directed by Rian Johnson. Produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pict ...

'', the following film in the series. The remains of the Skellig Michael monastery appear in the film, representing an ancient

Jedi Jedi (), Jedi Knights, or collectively the Jedi Order are the main heroic protagonists of many works of the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Working symbiotically alongside the Old Galactic Republic, and later supporting the Rebel Alliance, the Jedi ...

temple. Earlier, the Skellig Islands served as a location in the

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...

1976 movie '' Heart of Glass'', where the islands feature in one of the prophecies by the seer Hias. Certain scenes from the 2012 movie ''

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium' ...

'' were also filmed here.

Gallery

Image:Skellig Michael.jpg, View of Skellig Michael File:Southeast landing - Great Skellig.jpg, SE landing on Skellig Michael File:Skellig hives.jpg, Beehive style huts on Skellig Michael Image:Gannets on Little Skellig.jpg,

Northern gannet The northern gannet (''Morus bassanus'') is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae. It is native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, breeding in Western Europe and Northeastern North America. It is the largest seabird in t ...

colony on

References

External links

UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Skellig Michael

A Project Web Site about The Skellig Islands

{{Authority control Gaeltacht places in County Kerry Important Bird Areas of the Republic of Ireland Seabird colonies Special Protection Areas in the Republic of Ireland Uninhabited islands of Ireland