Skellig Michael: Puffins Abound, Ballinskelligs Beach, and another Castle

Generally, Irish weather is rather bleak and today was no different. Regardless of the Irish Permacloud, the main concern was the ocean conditions for our boating excursion to Skellig Michael. Mary, one of the B&B owners called the captain to confirm our reservation and ensure the trip was still scheduled. Often, the turbulent seas can prevent expeditions, but we received word of calm surf and would depart at 9:00. As our excitement grew the grey skies were rendered innocuous, although, the thought of climbing the 618 stairs to the monastery seemed daunting.

Skellig Islands (Skellig Michael on right)

Gannet and bird crap-capped Little Skellig

That's a lot of birds

We reached the docks at a quarter to the hour and embarked our water chariot. We departed Portmagee and made our way to the first island, Little Skellig; about an hour's ride. As we approached the smaller isle it appeared to be snow-capped from a distance. Closer inspection revealed a massive colony of gannets; an estimated 30,000 pairs of birds dwell on the lesser of the Skelligs. Little Skellig is not accessible to the public, therefore, we continued to our intended destination, Skellig Michael.

En route to Great Skellig

First Puffin sighting!!! Little Skelling in background

One down, 617 to go

Great Skellig is the larger of the two and is famously known as Skellig Michael; location of a Christian Monastery founded during the seventh century and later dedicated to Saint Michael. The monks selected an uninhabited island far away from the coast; far enough that it appeared to be the edge of the world. They decided to build the monastery atop the cliffs as a way to be as close to the heavens as possible. We noticed an abundance of unusual inhabitants hopping around the island, rabbits were everywhere. They were introduced by the monks centuries ago as a food source, and with no natural predators the population flourished. At one point, a cow was brought to the island, but the steep terrain and limited grass was not a suitable environment for a clumsy bovine.

Puffin pictures galore

Puffins aren't just a great bird, the name is fun to say

Picture break, only 418 stairs to go

Entering Monastery grounds

Monastery graveyard

Little Skellig through old chapel window

The other main wildlife attraction on the island is undoubtedly the plethora of Puffins. They were ubiquitous and we couldn't get enough pictures; reminding us of the amount of waterfall pictures we took in Krka National Park and Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. (How many puffin pictures is too many puffin pictures? Trick question, there is never enough.) We were allotted two hours until we had to return to the dock, plenty of time to make the ascent and descent of the 618 stairs. The return trip to Portmagee was explicitly brisk, but fortunately it never rained and the sea swells were minimal. We had a quick lunch after we made landfall and were back on the road shortly thereafter.

Julie trying to capture a puffin

Puffin picture 3,291,494,238

Somehow captured one in flight

Flap flap flap

Stop taking pictures of us

Bored of puffins yet...? Impossible!!!

Rounding out our afternoon itinerary were various attractions around the Ring of Kerry, including arbitrary stops at some of the many "Lookout Points." Up first, Ballinskelligs Beach, where the McCarthy Castle (Tower) overlooks the inlet of Ballinskelligs Bay. The proximity of the ruin to the water reminded us of the Sarazene Tower at La Pelosa Beach in Sardegna (Italy). Following our brief visit, we set our course for Waterville, a small town that plays host the Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival (passed several advertisements along the way). The seaside village was known to be a popular destination of the actor and the community has a statue and annual film festival in his honor. After passing through Waterville, there was one more point of interest before we completed our long day of sightseeing.

Panoramic of a Lookout Point

Please don't drive into the bay

McCarthy Tower on Ballinskelligs Beach

House overlooking bay in Waterville

A day earlier, we toured Ballycarbery Castle, a historical area that is also near the location of a ringfort. We could see the Cahergal Fort in the distance, but couldn't find the road to lead us there. Luckily, we had an opportunity to visit a similar structure; Staigue Fort, a bastion whose origin dates between the years 300 and 400. The ringfort is entirely constructed without mortar and measures thirty meters in diameter with some areas of the wall reaching up to six meters. The fortification served as a community dwelling as well as an innovative form of defense.

Staigue Fort

Ringfort entrance

Stairs to get to top of fort

View inside fort

Between the Skellig Michael monastery and Staigue Fort, the preservation of these historical landmarks are paramount and we were fortunate to have seen both within a few hours of each other. However, our day was not yet complete without at least one more animal encounter. On the drive back to Valentia Island we came across a lookout point that was slowly being taken over by sheep. A flock of rogue sheep hopped the small stone barricade and infiltrated the parking lot. We were compelled to stop and capture the moment as well as enjoy the view. To conclude our stay in Valentia Island, we had one last dinner across the bridge in Portmagee. The following day we would be back on the road and heading to Killarney.