Tuesday, January 12, 2010

On day 8 of the Sacred Sites of Ireland Tour,
we venture
to Skellig Michael - A Holy Haven on Earth.
This is not
a site for the faint of heart!


We are told that Skellig Michael (a combination of the Irish word for rock and archangel Michael) was founded by Saint Finan sometime around the 6th or 7th century. In selecting this place of solitude and silence he picked one of the most amazing sites in the world. It is inhospitable and very difficult to reach, 8 miles out into the Atlantic off the coast of County Kerry in southwest Ireland. One is totally dependent on the weather to gain access and it is often cut off for weeks at a time. When you get there, 600 ft above sea level is an amazing monastic complex of beehive huts where monks lived, slept, prayed and studied. To reach this complex one has to climb 620 steps. This is a transformational pilgrimage within oneself as one climbs up, and then ponders life and its meaning on the climb down.

Blessings, Love, and Peace,
Finbarr