Star Wars is set to tread where no monks have tread since the thirteenth Century

The Skellig Islands, two of Ireland’s most distinctive landmarks will be beamed on movie screens across the world, for what will surely be a windfall for the County Kerry region. As we go to print, filming is taking place for Episode VII: The Force Awakens which is expected to hit movie screens on the 18th of December 2015. Little Skellig and Skellig Michael attract thousands of visitors every year and remain one of the most popular tourist attractions in Ireland.

Jutting out of the rough Atlantic waves 12 kilometres from shore, Skellig Michael, the larger of the two, contains the ruins of an early Christian monastery, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is thought that it was founded some time in the 8th Century and was inhabited by monks until the 12th or 13th century. With over 600 steep steps, once you reach the top of the site, you can look around the stone beehive huts and the well-preserved ruins of the monastery.

It is the beauty of the site that is said to have attracted Lucasfilm to the site in 2014, where they shot for three days as part of the seventh instalment in the mammoth saga. It met with some resistance from conservation officers and bird watch groups who criticised the crew for filming during the nesting season for birds on the island.

The Skelligs are home to over 60,000 gannets, as well as a variety of other sea birds and Skellig Michael is the natural habitat for the puffin, manx shearwater and petrel birds. Strict environmental and ecological conditions were put in place to ensure there is no negative impact on the monastic island and its birdlife.

The monastic site is thought to feature as Luke Skywalker’s refuge in the movie and leaked footage online supposedly showed the hooded Jedi Knight,
portrayed by actor Mark Hamill, crossing the island’s rocky terrain and entering a dark cave.

Visitors can take a boat trip to the Skelligs and sail around the two islands. For those wanting to tread in the footsteps of the monks of St. Fionan’s monastery, who lived in the stone, beehive shaped huts, you can catch a boat to the island, climb the steps and imagine how the monks would descend
the steps early every morning and fish for the morning’s breakfast. The island is a place of pilgrimage since the monks left the island in the thirteenth century. Today it houses nothing but birds.

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Attractions in Ireland | Portmagee

Attractions in Ireland aren’t just the beautiful scenery of the land forms and ancient building or the rolling green hills, but the amazing stories is almost in every town, village and county.

Ireland is a destination renowned all over the World for its beauty. Ireland and in particular South Kerry is a must visit destination for everyone at least once in their lifetimes.

It is then no wonder that in 2011 readers of Frommers Guide (among most trusted names in travel) voted Ireland as their favorite holiday destination in the world.

In today’s post I am going to speak about the Portmagee, the fantastic tourism town in South Kerry which received the accolade as the National Tourism Town in 2012.

Ireland Attractions

Before I get into Portmagee, let me give you a flavor of attractions in Ireland that you must consider paying a visit now or soon;

Unique Islands E.g. Skellig Islands & Aran Islands
World Renowned Castles e.g. Blarney Castle in County Cork
History and Culture e.g. amazing history of Skellig Michael Monks,
Festivals E.g. Cahersiveen Festival of Music & Arts in August
Stunning Cliffs E.g. Kerry Cliffs, Cliffs of Moher
Awe-Inspiring Driving Routes E.g. Skellig Ring, the Ring of Kerry, Wild Atlantic Way
Fascinating Artefacts e.g. Bru Na Boinne Tombs of Country Meath which are said to be older than England’s Stonehenge and Egypt’s legendary pyramids.
Adventure tourism e.g. paragliding, Surfing, Sea Kayaking, Caving, Camping, Mountain biking, Rock climbing, as well as a fantastic experience of hiking along Ireland’s evergreen hills and cliffs

Having mentioned the few above, it’s really hard to get around all these attractions in Ireland within a single post guys as there are so many and each of them has its uniqueness. You can also explore more on the attractions here .

The history of Portmagee,

Hosting many attractions in Ireland, this beautiful village is reach in History. Portmagee is derived from Port of Magee! But who is this Magee? During 18^th Century emerged a notorious man in the name of Theobald Magee who served in the famous King James Irish army.

After he retired from army services Captain Magee positioned himself in early mercantilism where he operated in the countries of France, Portugal and here Ireland.

Captain Magee accumulated a lot of capital by smuggling around South West Kerry’s coastline where the policies could not access easily. With loads of contraband spirits, textiles, tea and tobacco plundered by Captain Magee, he soon emerged as the most feared merchant of his time. The port became very lucrative to Theobald Magee.

Portmagee Village

The village of Portmagee is located on the Iveragh Peninsula, South of Valentia Island in County Kerry Ireland.

Portmagee is a crossing point to Valentia Island which also hosts loads of Attractions in Ireland.

The bridge from Portmagee to Valentia Island was built in 1970 and it was named in memory of young farmer Maurice O’Neil who was captured and executed in 1942 during second campaign against the Northern Ireland polity.

Places of Interest around Portmagee

Though small, the village hosts fantastic attractions in Ireland. Uniqueness of Portmagee prompted for it to be voted the top tourism town in Ireland in December 2012 hence becoming the first town in Ireland to be awarded the accoladeJ.

Let’s explore some of places of interest in Portmagee below;

So whenever you’re thinking of visiting Ireland make Portmagee your number one destination guys. You can also read more about places of interest around Portmagee in one of our posts here, feel free.

Explore Skellig Islands in Portmagee

With our dedicated trips to Skellig islands which many consider to me one of top attractions in Ireland, book your trip with Skellig Michael Cruises now and we guarantee you a trip that will leave you awe-inspired.