The Skellig Michael Problem
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
- Most Irish people are familiar with Skellig Michael.
The towering rocky island lies off the coast of Kerry, and up until the 13th century was home to a small group of monks who lived in beehive huts.
You'd be hard pushed to find a more isolated and unforgiving environment to live in.
In a few short years, the story of these monks was opened up to a far wider audience after it served as Luke Skywalker's hermitage in the latest installments of Star Wars.
Tourism in Kerry got a boost, as more people flocked to the county.
However, Skellig Michael is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Visitors are strictly limited by number and to certain times of the year.
This means only a few people can actually get to Skellig Michael, and even then weather conditions might force the trip to be cancelled.
The site is also difficult to walk around, as well as may posing problems for anyone with a fear of heights.
While tourism has always been Kerry's strong suit, the problem it now faces is a new wave of tourists who might primarily want to see one, isolated location. A small centre dedicated to the Skelligs, the Skellig Experience Visitor Centre, already exists, but it may not be enough to sate many.
TheJournal.ie spoke to some of those close to the tourism industry in Kerry for a glimpse of how they're attempting to spread the tourism around the county, so hoards of disappointed tourists don't start piling up at the boats to the Skelligs.
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My wife and I visited the area almost two years ago, and it is wonderful place! Our first day we arrived late in the afternoon at the place we were staying, just a short walk from Portmagee, so we took a wander down to familiarise ourselves with the area and were greeted with a few large seals and portmagee itself was just the tip of the iceberg of things we would find. Our second day was the only day we actually had planned. A boat landing tour of Skellig Michael. It was outstanding! The place has an amazing presence and a real, physical sense of how the monks lived was all around us. The tour was over all too quickly, and other than a little slip on the way down it was amazing!! I thought We’d seen the best the area had to offer but boy was I wrong! Our third, and final day, we decided to explore Valentia island. Armed with a map of the area that included all the points of interest we set off. Once on the island we decided to head out to Bray head point and the view was stunning! We headed on and followed the directions to brendans well but we were beaten by what looked like a gate to private land. Looking on google maps later we saw we weren’t far from it and the gate was actually the way to go😂. We kept on walking but when we came to Geokaun mountain climb we decided we were already tired and had a long way to go so we’d keep going. More gorgeous scenery and remains of old farmhouses and homes dotted the fields around us and then we turned a corner and stumbled across the slate quarry. We’d never seen anything like it before and neither of us said a word as we explored what we safely could. Our next stop was the dinosaur footprints where we met a nice couple from France who gave us a ride to Knights town where started our walk back towards the bridge to Portmagee. Along the way we came to a really nice pub where we had a huge welcome and an equally huge burger and chips! Being too full to move we called the place we were staying and they agreed to come and rescue us since the walk had defeated us. I’ll never forget our time there and we do hope to return in the near future. This time a bit more prepared and take a car so we can do the Atlantic way trail too. Thanks for reading this far and I hope that you don’t mind me sharing our experiences in a place that, on the outside, doesn’t have very much, but in reality there is SO much to see!
I visited Skellig Michael in 2013. I called a local boatman to reserve two spots about 4 months in advance. A few days before my visit I called him to be sure my spots were still reserved. He said, “yah, mebye!” In a thick Irish accent. A day before I called him from Killarney and got the same response.i arrived a very cold, rainy and heavily clouded Saturday morning in July. At around 7 am I tracked him down. When I asked if he had my reservation he said, “ya mebye.” I had a big breakfast with my son and at around 8 the waiter told me the boars weee getting ready to go. It was then I realized that “ya mebye” meant that the trip was dependent upon the weather. We left Portmagee in a misty rain and about 6 miles out we left the clouds and rain behind and saw Skellig Michael on a blue sea and bluer sky. It was the most dramatic and sublime thing I’ve ever seen. My son and I had 4 hours on the island. It was sunny and warm and the most exhilarating 4 hours of my life. I wrote a poem about the experience which I will never forget.
I was thrilled to see Skellig featured in Star Wars, but then immediately realized that any chance of returning to the islands was very unlikely and that tourism would forever change them. So glad to have caught that boat in 2004 with my (now) wife to experience Skellig Michael.
The second I saw the island in the Star Wars film I knew it was the 'Skelligs'. I climbed Skelling Michael in 1988.
"They paved paradise ... and put up a parking lot." ~ Joni Mitchell
Kerry is an amazing part of Ireland, but trying to understand the locals is like trying to understand captain caveman and the tasmanian devil when their drunk!!!
I'm sure they thought the world of you.
Here's a thought for supposed "disappointed" tourists - book in advance of your trip. Mad thought I know
An "uptick"? Jesus Christ! What's wrong with saying an "increase"? Unless you want to sound like a pretentious prat.