Exploring the Skelligs: Irish islands feel the Force
By Wes Little, CNN
Cinematic even before you add the Millennium Falcon. You can see why "Star Wars" producers chose Skellig Michael as a location in a galaxy far, far away.The small rocky island sits about 8 miles off the southwest coast of Ireland. It hosts a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an ancient Christian monastery famous for its architecture consisting of stone "beehive" huts built without mortar.
The otherworldly appearance of the island as well as its secure, hard-to-get-to location may have been among the reasons monks were drawn to the island as well. The Skelligs, Skellig Michael and its sister island Little Skellig (an even more sheer rock, home only to thousands of seabirds) have always been attractive to visitors interested in Irish history and natural beauty.
5th December 2017