Why We Started SkelligMichael.com
Hi, my name’s Vincent. I’ve created SkelligMichael.com to help people get to this incredible, magical island as quickly and painlessly as possible. To be your first step on your journey to Skellig Michael.
Skellig Michael’s magic has cast its spell over me for more than 40 years. I was incredibly fortunate to be born right beside it and have been able to see it outside my window. When I was 7, I went out on a boat to see this mysterious island on the horizon and, even then, I knew this place was special. Since then, I’ve been on the island more than 50 times, exploring, photographing, and just drinking in the incredible feeling of the place.
I published the very first web page on the Skelligs about 21 years ago, before Google was born, on a website I built for my sister’s guesthouse, The Moorings. Back then, a trip to Skellig Michael was the aim of a very select few who happened to be in the area or knew of its significance. Thanks to traveller forums such as Tripadvisor, people were soon posting awe-struck reports of this forgotten heritage site and, over time, it became something of an Internet sleeper hit. It finally received its long overdue worldwide recognition courtesy of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and that was hugely compounded by its starring role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Some people are concerned Star Wars will overwhelm the site’s sacred significance. I understand their concern but I don’t share their pessimism. You cannot come to this place and not be inspired by the magnificence of the island’s natural beauty or the almost unimaginable effort expended by the monks to alter the island for the purpose of communal worship. Nor be moved by the island’s implacability to the passing of time, storms or the whims of man. Skellig is an extraordinarily special place and I look forward to helping people to discover its incredible, awe-inspiring otherworldliness for themselves.