Tom Anderson writes:
This slide video post is not strictly a mountaineering outing but was a very interesting day out.
The Skellings are two islands (mainly rock outcrops) off the Kerry coast Southern Ireland.
The start of the voyage was from Portmagee, where several companies run outings.
The weather was very fine, clear and with not much swell (no one was sea sick!).
This trip is now very popular due to the rocks featuring in Game of Thrones
[editor: and also Star Wars – The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi].
The largest island Great Skellig was once the site of a christian monastery and has remarkable beehive huts for the monks to live in!
This must have been a tough place to spend praying, let alone surviving? Both Islands have a large colony of seabirds living on them with the usual smell of guano.
The trip was very enjoyable and enlightening made so by our boat man who was very knowledgeable. This is a very remote place, a Dorner aircraft collided with the Little Skellig during WW2 and the wreckage was not found for several months.
If you visit County Kerry take a boat ride and have a rest from the hills.
Tom Anderson.
You can watch Tom’s video by following this link.
Loved your video we were lucky enough to do a similar trip last year, well worth a visit.
Thanks for sharing. I visited Skellig Michael a few years ago while cycling down the west coast, it’s an amazing place! Also had a beautiful day but the crossing was very rough, the American tourists vomiting over the side of the boat right next to me really added to the experience.