A Guided Tour Of Derry With An American Twist

February 22, 2017 by Irish American Mom 15 Comments

Derry is a bustling city in Ireland’s northwest, the only completely walled city in all of Ireland. Steeped in history, this vibrant city is an amazing destination for anyone planning a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Founded nearly 1500 years ago, you can be sure there are plenty of stories to be told of conflict and tragedy, hope and resilience, and above all, peace and reconciliation in this little city, that always offers a warm welcome to visitors from near and far.

However, I believe the best way to really learn about a place is to meet a local person, who will share their deep seated connection to their home town or county.

Today, I’m delighted to introduce a native of Derry, and a true expert in Irish and Derry history, Gleann Doherty, who leads wonderful walking tours around his hometown.

He’s eager to meander through the streets of Derry with you, to stroll the 17th century walls of this historic city, all the while sharing his immense knowledge and first-hand experiences of this evolving city.

And so, I’m delighted to hand you over to Gleann for an in-depth look at all his guided tours have to offer……

Guest Post To And Fro:

Ok! So I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how to begin this blog for 15 minutes, and I haven’t figured it out yet, so I’ve just started typing.

Mairéad had asked me to write this some time ago and I readily agreed to do so, then completely forgot that I had, so I apologize unreservedly to Mairéad. But then I received a request for a tour of Derry’s walls by an American couple just before Christmas 2016.

It was just after the tour had finished that I then recalled the email conversation that I had with Mairéad, and that I had agreed to write a blog. I gingerly emailed Mairéad ,again apologized, and she let me have another chance so here goes….

Introducing Gleann Doherty:

I would like to introduce myself first of all. My name is Gleann Doherty (Gleann O’Dochartaigh) and I live in Derry City, Ireland. I am a tour guide/historian and have been since 2013.

I now run my own tour guide company Derry Guided Tours in the city. I have a BA Honours Degree in Irish History and Politics from the University of Ulster, Magee, graduating in 2013 when I was 42 years old – a late starter as they say here.

Guided Tours Offered By Gleann:

I conduct tours mainly around two areas of Derry that are steeped in history, also County Donegal and the Giant’s Causeway on the Antrim Coast .

The first is the Derry Walls walking tour, the content of which I will go into later.

The other tour that I lead is the Bloody Sunday- Bogside murals walking tour.

*View overlooking the Bogside from Double Bastion Derry City*

This tour deals with the more modern history of Derry and Ireland, but focuses mostly on The Battle of the Bogside, Civil Rights period, and Bloody Sunday in Derry on the 30th January 1972.

It is in this massacre that my own father was murdered, Patrick Doherty, aged 31.

The tour brings you through some of the worst periods of the conflict but also into the brighter era of the peace process and better times ahead.

An American Couple Tour Derry With Me:

But anyway, back to my story about how I came to write this blog post. I had a tour booked for the week just before Christmas, a Derry Walls walking tour by an American couple from Utah.

They had booked their tour the week before and I was hoping that it wouldn’t freeze in the mean time.

*Magazine Gate with Tower Museum behind in Derry City*

We met at the Tower museum in the city centre as arranged. We exchanged names again and what we were going to see and do and how did I pronounce my name? Was it ‘Gleen or Gle-ann?’ Happens all the time. It’s pronounced ‘Glenn’ named after Glenn Cambell, the singer, by the way.

Just before we began the couple asked did I know where the windmill is in Derry? They had asked a few people but nobody seemed to know. I told them that I did know where it was and that I could take them there as part of their walking tour. They were delighted, so off we went and on to Derry’s walls for their tour

I explained to them that we would be covering around 1500 years of Irish history on our 90-minute tour and we’d do a complete circuit of the city walls, 1.4 km. They had a pretty good knowledge of Irish history and had also researched their own family history before hand.

History of Derry:

The tour began with St. Colmcille, an Irish Prince turned monk who set up a monastery on the island of Doire (Derry) in the year 546 AD before moving on to Scotland to spread the word of Christianity to Britain and Europe.

As we walked the only fully walled city in Ireland the topics moved on from the Nine Years War and the invasion of Ulster, the last Gaelic stronghold in Ireland, and the Plantation of Ulster from around 1609.

*Above Magazine Gate on the Walls of Derry*

The Plantation of Ulster is not the American idea of a plantation but a replanting of English and Scottish Protestants brought over to Ireland and Ulster in particular to repopulate the area that had been cleared of native Irish.

This is from where most Unionists-Protestants in Ireland get their roots. Derry and it’s walls were the main stronghold for the Plantation.

The Walls Of Derry:

Derry’s walls were built in 1613-1618 and controlled the main waterway into Ulster, the river Foyle which flows though Derry splitting it in two.

As we passed over the 4 original gateways I explained their names and how they came about ….

Bishop’s Gate, which is where the Church of Ireland Bishop resided,
Butcher Gate, where the butcher’s shops were situated,
Ferryquay Gate, the gate used to go get the ferry across the river Foyle
and lastly Shipquay Gate, were the ships would tie up at the quay just outside the gate.

Then we had a discussion on how the word ‘quay’ is pronounced. We say ‘key.’ and my American friends pronounced it ‘kwee’, but we over came our pronunciation difficulties and moved on to a new topic, The Siege of Derry 1689.

The Siege Of Derry:

The Siege of Derry would play a huge part in the Unionist tradition’s history. The Siege of Derry was fought out between the Catholic King James II and the Protestant King William III, Prince of Orange.

This is where the Orange Order gets it’s name. King James II was attempting to get his English throne back from William III who had replaced James on the English throne.

*Cannon on Double Bastion in Derry City*

The siege became the longest siege in Irish and British military history lasting 105 days, but you will have to visit Derry and take a tour to find out who won. 🙂 🙂 🙂

The Old Windmill:

As we rounded the top of the walls at St. Columb’s Cathedral going towards Bishop’s Gate and after revealing Derry’s connection to the American Declaration of Independence, I informed them that to see the old windmill we had to leave the city walls and walk down Bishop’s Street outside of the walls.

At the site of the old windmill, which is in the grounds of the old St Columb’s College, my guests informed me as to why the wanted to see the windmill.

They said that their relatives, two brothers, fought at the Battle of Windmill Hill during the Siege of Derry 1689.

The two brothers were of Scots Presbyterian stock and the family had come to Ireland during the Plantation period of the early 1600’s. The old windmill, of which only some of the base walls still survive, was a strategic piece of high ground close to the walled city and was fiercely fought over on two separate occasions.

As far as I can recall the brothers left for America after the siege ended with at least one of them becoming involved in politics in Texas.

After these revelations we stepped back on to the city walls to finish the tour. At Double Bastion over looking the Bogside we resumed our tour.

Recent Derry History And The Bogside:

High up over the Bogside area of Derry I gave my captive audience a short explanation of the recent conflict here in Ireland and the part that Derry played in it. We briefly covered a vast array of topics

the Partition of Ireland,
creation of the Northern and southern states,
the concequences of partition,
the sectarian discrimination shown to the native Irish Catholics in the 6 north eastern counties that remained under British rule after partition,
the Civil Rights period around 1967 and the influence that the American Civil Rights movement had here in Ireland.

I then explained the white gable wall that stands in the Bogside known as Free Derry Wall/Corner with the slogan ‘You Are Now Entering Free Derry’ and the slogan’s American origins.

We also talked about my personal connection with Bloody Sunday, a connection that my visitors were not aware of.

As we made our way down hill we passed along the Apprentice Boys Hall and The First Derry Presbyterian Church, how it came to be, it’s destruction and rebuilding again, as well as the Penal Laws in Ireland and Presbyterian or Scots-Irish emigration to America.

As the tour came to an end back at the Tower Museum I thanked my now American friends for sharing their family story and history and they thanked me for sharing the history of Derry and Ireland and for filling in some blanks as to why the two brothers had left Ireland for America.

I realized after we had parted ways, that as we had come full circle on our tour, that history had come full circle also. The two brothers had left Ireland for the New World some 330 years ago. Their relatives had returned to Ireland, Derry and the windmill to get answers as to why the two brothers had left in the first place and had completed the circle.

This is why I love history, taking an event some 330 years ago and following and piecing together the events that lead back to modern times and meeting the relatives who had completed the circle.

So folks, if you have come this far in this story I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’ve really enjoyed recalling the events of the day and relaying them to yourselves, where ever you may be.

It’s a small world as they say.

Go raibh maith agaibh. (Thank you)

Gleann Doherty,
Derry Guided Tours

A big thank you to Gleann for taking the time to introduce his tour company and for sharing his city with us today. I was so sorry to learn that Gleann lost his father on Bloody Sunday in Derry.

Gleann’s in-depth knowledge and personal experiences are invaluable assets for those eager to learn about Ireland or those seeking out their own family connections to the Emerald Isle.

Wishing you all happy tours around Derry and Ireland this year, 2017. And may Gleann’s company, Derry Guided Tours, grown and prosper over the coming years and decades.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Ireland’s Thin Places

January 15, 2017 by Irish American Mom 48 Comments

New Year resolution season is here. But fear not! Today’s post about ‘thin places’ shall not take you on a tour of Ireland’s gyms.

Instead, we’ll explore the Celtic concept of thin places – surreal physical spaces where heaven and earth seem to touch.

http://www.irishamericanmom.com/2016/05/09/drombeg-stone-circle/ — Drombeg Stone Circle in County Cork.

Now, I’m well aware “surreal physical spaces” is a term that could be used to describe a few fat rolls and muffin tops where heaven and earth and everything in between seem to touch, but let’s distract ourselves from diets and treadmills today by taking a mystical journey to discover Ireland’s thin places.

Celtic Origins Of The Term “Thin Places:”

Ireland is home to numerous thin places, so it may come as no surprise to learn that the term itself has Celtic origins.

Our forefathers believed some physical locations on earth are closer to the spiritual than others – places where God’s presence is more accessible to us as humans.

http://www.irishamericanmom.com/2015/04/29/knocknarea-and-queen-maeve-of-connacht/ — Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, County Sligo

The exact origins of the term “thin places” may never be traced, but there is an ancient Celtic saying that beautifully introduces this terminology ….

“Heaven and earth are only three feet apart,

but in thin places that distance is even shorter.”

~ Celtic Saying

Ancient Celts spoke of mesmerizing, mystical places where the veil between heaven and earth is very thin. Past, present and future seem to collide in these spaces. It is as if the visitor witnesses or even experiences an ancient reality, in just a passing moment.

There is a luminous quality to the air and light. Rugged seacoasts, rocky mountain peaks and windswept beaches call out to Ireland’s thin place pilgrims to this very day.

The Grianan Stone Ring Fort in County Donegal

Ireland’s sacred landscape offers many sanctuaries of creation to visitors.

These mystical spots host no flashing lights, nor informational graphics to delight the senses. There are no tourist “rides” to satisfy our 21st century desire for instant gratification and entertainment.

Instead, Ireland’s thin places are raw and untamed, offering visitors a slow, seeping awareness of the magnificence of creation.

In these places it is important to pause, to feel the wind upon your cheeks, to drink in the landscape and the energy that exudes from the very earth and rocks.

John O’Donohue, the Irish writer and Celtic philosopher said the purpose of these places is “to anchor our longing in the ancient longing of Nature.”

Native Americans were keenly aware of thin places. I love this Apache proverb which beautifully encapsulates the concept. It simply states …

“Wisdom sits in places.”

~ Apache Proverb

And believe me, there is much wisdom just waiting to be discovered in Ireland’s wise old places and spaces.

Ireland – A Pile Of Old Rocks:

A few years back I was talking to an American mom at one of my children’s weekly activities. Once she heard my Irish accent, she said …

“My friend just returned from Ireland,

but she thought it was just a pile of old rocks.”

My heart stopped beating for a split second. You know those moments in time – when the world around you seems to freeze, and litanies of thoughts and emotions catapult from the deep recesses of your mind.

The term “a pile of old rocks” pierced my very soul. These words maligned our ancient stones, misrepresenting our mystical heritage to the world.

I wanted to scream out in anguish …

“How could your friend not fall in love with Ireland’s thin places,

marked out by our wise ancestors using cryptic stones

that have stood sentinel for multiple millennia?”

But don’t worry I held my tongue, fully aware such a response might hastily assign me to the loony mom bin.

I just smiled, and asked if this Irish tourist was reconnecting with her Irish ancestry on her trip. I soon learned she had no links to Ireland. A wave of relief rushed over me as I quietly concluded her lack of interest in ancient stones and mythical heritage may simply be a genetic thing. Or perhaps, she may be totally unaware of the magic of thin places.

Genetically Wired To Appreciate Thin Places:

Just like many of you, I believe Ireland is truly my spiritual home. There, I feel a divine presence more acutely than anywhere else on earth.

It’s as if I am genetically wired to appreciate Ireland’s thin places, and to even find such spots that are not marked on the well worn tourist trail.

Many Irish Americans feel an inexplicable link to the Emerald Isle, even if their forebears departed from Ireland’s shores generations and sometimes even centuries ago.

http://www.irishamericanmom.com/2016/05/26/skellig-michael/ — Skellig Michael, County Kerry

This deep spiritual connection to Mother Ireland gives many Irish Americans an uncanny ability to appreciate and experience the mysteries of Ireland’s thin places.

How To Recognize A “Thin Place?”

And here is the point in this blog post where I am going to try to do the impossible, fully aware that my words will fail. Describing what a thin place experience feels like, is simply beyond the power of language.

These places bring feelings and emotions, realizations and awareness to the fore. It is as if the line between all that is sacred and human meet for just a moment.

These are hallowed spaces, sometimes, though not necessarily, marked by a church or Christian symbols like Celtic Crosses. Many stone circles and ring forts were built in places where you can feel an ancient presence.

http://www.irishamericanmom.com/2016/05/18/county-laois-the-land-of-the-cow/ — Rock of Dunamase, County Laois

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There is something otherworldly in the atmosphere, transcendent, even divine. Other dimensions seem closer than usual. There is a tangible stillness to the silence.

In a thin place something beyond words causes our spines to tingle, as if awakening our souls. Even our thoughts seem to be swept away in the moment, and something deep within our beings touches a luminous seat of knowledge.

You may visit a thin place as part of a group, but each person will experience something different. One man’s thin place may be a very thick place to another.

If you find your thin place, no matter how many others are with you, you will feel drawn by something powerful, yet unspoken. Despite the companionship of others you will be lost in a solitary world between past and present.

Your soul feels awash with time, eager to linger, while lost in the silence of natural prayer, and the confluence of worlds and dimensions.

The more spiritually skeptical or scientifically inclined amongst us may attribute these effects to electromagnetic fields that some rocks may generate to make some locations feel different. Or perhaps there is some type of seismic activity beneath our feet contributing to our mystical experiences?

But as for me, I feel no need to rationalize the experience of a thin place. Even if our science fails to explain the reasons, or our words fail to express the sublimity, the awe inspiring power of thin places is exhilarating.

The After Effects Of Visiting Thin Places:

I highly recommend visiting Ireland’s thin places as a form of spiritual renewal, whatever your faith or beliefs might be. Returning from a thin place is marked by a feeling of refreshment and renewal. Our awareness of the world around us becomes heightened.

In days, weeks and years to come, memories of sacred landscapes help us see glimpses of nature and the divine in the chaotic world around our urban existences.

The prayerfulness of these little corners on earth urge us to return to them in our imagination when we cannot physically visit them again.

When overwhelmed by the monotony of daily life, the tedious details of work and living, we can listen to our hearts and hear the silent music of thin places. Our souls guide us back to the peaceful presence of those ancient stones, and help us draw strength from the peace and serenity of our thin place experiences.

Have you ever experienced something you might call a thin place? Feel free to let us know in the comment section below.

Where To Find Ireland’s Thin Places:

And so you may be thinking you too would like to undertake a spiritual walkabout or driveabout in Ireland.

You can choose an unplanned journey of discovery, keeping an open mind and open heart in search of your thin place to experience a spiritual revelation.

Or you can research with the experts. Mindie Burgoyne, is a travel writer, blogger, author, tour operator and speaker. Here’s what she says on her blog …

“Her focus is traveling within the context of a story to mystical – magical places that stir the mind and spirit.”

Her blog, Thin Places, is a wonderful, insightful guide to Irish Mystical Sites. She teaches us there’s far more than meets the eye to Ireland’s “piles of old rocks”.

Thank you, Mindy, for sharing and recording such important information about Ireland’s amazing heritage.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Mizen Head, County Cork

August 16, 2016 by Irish American Mom 16 Comments

When you think of Irish cliffs and must-see tourist sites, the famous Cliffs of Moher in County Clare automatically spring to mind.

But today, I’m going to take you on a tour of County Cork’s lesser known, but just as spectacular cliffs at Mizen Head, Ireland’s most south westerly point.

I love to take you off the well beaten Irish tourist trail, to discover Ireland’s hidden treasures. If you plan to visit Ireland in search of bracing ocean scented air, then the Mizen is the place for you.

The wonderful thing about this magnificent County Cork outpost on the Wild Atlantic Way, is that it is far less busy than the more northerly Ring of Kerry or Cliffs of Moher.

And so, brace yourself for a photographic tour of dizzying proportions.

In today’s post I share some photos I took on a wild and blustery spring day. Join me as we peer over some of Ireland’s rocky precipices and enjoy the churning Atlantic ocean.

The old Mizen Head Signal Station has been transformed into an award winning Maritime Museum and Heritage Centre.

This rocky outpost is in a spectacular location high atop the cliffs and the swirling Atlantic Ocean tides. A path down 99 steps leads to a footbridge crossing the churning waters below.

Tread quickly across this bridge, if like me, you don’t have a head for heights.

I handed my camera over to my husband to take this shot looking directly below the bridge.

But once my kids started shouting they could see a seal battling the waters below, I overcame my fears to take a look.

Apparently seals and their pups are often seen swimming in the Atlantic swells within this gorge. Mizen Head is a perfect vantage point to scan the waters for whales and dolphins. Only seals spotted on our visit.

Here’s a view of the rocky shoreline from the bridge. The layers of rock are formed by Devonian era slate. The many shaded gray striations are simply spectacular.

This is a majestic landscape with breathtaking scenery equal to any found in Ireland.

Out in the distance the Fastnet Rock can be spotted.

A 19th century lighthouse sits atop this rocky outcrop known as the Teardrop of Ireland. For many leaving Ireland’s shores as emigrants, the Fastnet Rock was the very last little sliver of Ireland they beheld.

Building this safety beacon so far off shore is a credit to 19th century engineering skills.

The old signal station now houses an informative museum with exhibits showing what life was like for those who worked here many years ago.

Here you can learn about the vast array of wildlife to be found in the seas and surrounding cliffs, together with the history of the Fastnet Rock, Marconi and radio communication.

This majestic seascape, with its many breath-taking views has to be seen to be believed.

My family visited on a wet and blustery day, with storm clouds hovering on the horizon. Despite hail showers, and mist laden gales, we found the experience to be completely exhilarating.

Mizen Head is Ireland’s southerly land’s end. I highly recommend a visit, especially if you wish to experience the power of the Atlantic ocean, without the excessive crowds found in other corners of Ireland.

For anyone interested in visiting, here are two great websites for planning a trip –

Mizen Head Signal Station

Mizen Head Visitor Centre

Wishing you all happy trails in Ireland.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and Blessings)

Irish American Mom

Lissadell House – A Family History

May 30, 2016 by Irish American Mom 10 Comments

Lissadell House is a magnificent Georgian home in County Sligo, where the Gore-Booth sisters, Constance and Eva, once passed their childhood summers. Despite her privileged upbringing, Constance played a pivotal role in the Easter Rising of 1916.

Yeats, a frequent visitor to Lissadell penned a tribute to these sisters, a poem I vividly remember learning off-by-heart as a school girl in Dublin. Here’s a little snippet ….

Image Credit

In Memory Of Eva Gore-Booth And Con Markiewicz

by William Butler Yeats

“The light of evening, Lissadell,

Great windows open to the south,

Two girls in silk kimonos, both

Beautiful, one a gazelle…..

…. Many a time I think to seek

One or the other out and speak

Of that old Georgian mansion, mix

pictures of the mind, recall

That table and the talk of youth,

Two girls in silk kimonos, both

Beautiful, one a gazelle.”

Image Credit

I’m delighted to publish a guest post by Brighid O’Sullivan who shares her love of Ireland and Irish history on her website Celtic Thoughts. Today, Brighid is taking us on a tour of Lissadell House and Gardens in County Sligo. And so, I hand you over to Brighid…..

Lissadell House – A Family History By Brighid O’Sullivan

Lissadell House, on the west coast of Ireland, is a brilliant destination to add to your travel plans when you visit County Sligo.

Besides being the family home of the once famous rebel, Constance Markievicz (nicknamed the Rebel Countess), you’ll find history, grandeur, stunning scenery and helpful tour guides, who will explain and share stories with you as you walk through the superbly renovated rooms.

The surrounding countryside shows panoramic views of a rolling sea and the unusual topography that is Ben Bulben close by.

If you plan well, you may visit when there is a special function at Lissadell. In the past, I have seen musical concerts, lectures, hot air balloon rides, and a children’s petting zoo advertised.

Any time is good though. Part of the house is closed off as a family home but a good portion is open to the public as both a museum and forum used for historical lectures such as the Revolution and Remembrance Conference hosted the 13 – 15 of May.

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The gardens are fantastic and straddle the seashore inside a walled garden filled with many rare and unusual alpine plants, some species created by the Gore-Booth family themselves.

The real history of Lissadell is in the legacy of the people who lived there. The most famous Gore-Booth is Constance Markievicz who was the only female leader of the 1916 Easter Rebellion not executed, and her husband Casmir – he painted several portraits of staff and family, still seen today on the walls of the Gore-Booth dining room. The colors are extraordinary.

My favorite part of the house, a special museum on the second floor dedicated mostly to Constance, is filled with photos, her own drawings, and news memorabilia, not just of her rebel days, but of her younger years as a social debutante and actress.

Statue of Constance Markiewicz in Dublin

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A special relationship existed between Constance and her sister, Eva Gore-Booth. So intense was their relationship that they claimed to communicate telepathically, even while Constance was in prison.

Eva left behind her own legacy very different from her more militant sister’s. As a pacifist, she fought for women’s suffrage, better working conditions for women in England, and testified for conscientious objectors during WWI.

You can find out more about Eva by reading a Free biography, Eva Gore-Booth, the Other Sister. The book is available from Amazon as well as Barnes and Noble.

Image Credit

Lissadell House is a Greek neo-classical manor house filled with history, beauty, and grandeur located in County Sligo in the West of Ireland. The rooms, decorated and furnished with original pieces worthy of a royal country estate boast a hominess to the house that breathes family life and culture.

Sir Henry Gore-Booth loved to travel and was an adventure seeker. He brought back many of the mementos we see in the house today. For instance, you will find a stuffed grizzly bear alleged to have been shot by Henry’s valet, Thomas Kilgallon as well as stuffed birds, walrus tusks, harpoons, and geological specimens sprinkled among the elegant furnishings.

Early history of the house reads like a historical novel plagued by war, famine, and heartbreak. Built on land previously fought over by the O’Donnells and O’Connors, the land around Lissadell was awarded by Queen Elizabeth I—to Paul Gore who later became the first ancestor of the Gore-Booth family.

Around 1760 the first Lissadell House was built next to the sea with a walled garden out back. The home was demolished eighty years later and Sir Robert Gore-Booth built what is Lissadell House today.

The house is privately owned by the Walsh/Cassidy family who painstakingly restored the walled alpine gardens (once providing rare plants to much of Europe), house, riding ring, and grounds to its former beauty.

Welly Boots at Lissadell House Front Entrance — The owners’ welly boots lined up at the front door of Lissadell House

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As you can imagine, the task was not without its challenges and legal issues with the property costing the family thousands in litigation.

Although previously offered money from the government (not without stipulations), the family opted to spend all their own money on renovations and turn down any grants. They have done a wonderful job as many people have attested to, with the whole family including children taking part in the repairs.

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Also close to Lissadell and in County Sligo are Coole Park, the home of Lady Gregory and Yeat’s summer home, a tower house called Thoor Ballylee.

To read more about The Gore-Booths and the Famine go here.

Eva Gore-Booth, The Other Sister (Free Ebook)

The Gore-Booths of Lissadell by Dermot James is another excellent source

Thanks Brighid, for this wonderful post and information about Lissadell and the Gore-Booth sisters.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Skellig Michael

May 26, 2016 by Irish American Mom 12 Comments

Skellig Michael is a craggy island off the coast of Ireland’s County Kerry. Every summer this rocky outcrop in the Atlantic ocean welcomes tourists to climb its steep, jagged steps to explore an ancient monastery built upon its stony ledges.

Beehive huts and stone oratories, constructed by monks of olden days, have stood the test of time, and now bear witness to their builders’ self sacrifice and eagerness to live solitary and devout lives.

A reader in Boston, plus another from County Cork, recently sent me some amazing photos of the Skellig.

I am honored to share this Irish cultural and historical gem with you.

And thanks to these readers for their generousity in allowing me to use their photos to create this post and video.

Together, we’ll take a trip off the Irish coast to discover the wonders of Skellig Michael.

This island is breathtakingly beautiful, especially when the sun shines and azure skies reflect in the choppy waters of the Atlantic ocean, highlighting Skellig’s steep and rugged cliffs.

Skellig Michael is also known as the Great Skellig because it is the largest of a group of three rocky islands. Little Skellig or An Sceilg Bheag is a sea bird sanctuary and can be seen in the photo above, taken from the Great Skellig.

In the summer months puffins, gannets, kittiwakes, petrels and shearwaters balance on the jagged slopes of Little Skellig.

Puffin Island, the third of the Skellig threesome, lies farther north and is also a bird sanctuary.

Featured in the last scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this little island, 12 km or 8 miles off the coast of Kerry, looks spectacular as Rey rushes up the steps in search of the long lost Luke Skywalker.

With 670 steps leading to a sixth-century monastery, this national monument has been deemed a UNESCO World Heritage site. The monks who lived there, at a dizzying height of 230 meters or about 720 feet above sea level, were exceptional men with a head for heights.

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This incredible ascent is over 1000 years old, and leads to one of the most amazing monastic sites on earth.

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Dating from around the 6th century the stone beehive shaped huts are surprisingly well preserved, considering they are exposed to ferocious gales and Atlantic winter storms each and every year.

Monks seeking solitude and sacrifice built this monastery on the steep slopes of the Skellig. How they survived on these rocky cliffs is nothing short of a miracle.

These tenacious men lived in these tiny dwellings which seem to cling to the cliff’s edge.

It is thought a small group of men crossed the open ocean off the Kerry coast in search of a place to practice their religion in solitude and isolation. And the extraordinary location they found takes the meaning of penance to a whole new level.

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Survival in such inhospitable surroundings seems impossible to us today, but survive they did. A religious community lived on the island for over 600 years.

Skellig boasts an international reputation for its archaeology, but it is also recognized as a home to many species of birds, including puffins, Manx shearwaters and storm petrels.

It has been deemed a special protection area for these bird colonies.

Sometimes I think these islands look like volcanoes, but don’t worry, there’s nothing volcanic about them, or any mountain in Ireland.

During the Protestant Reformation instigated by Elizabeth I, or Good Queen Bess as many Irish like to sarcastically call her, Skellig Michael was removed from the possession of the Catholic Church and ownership was transferred to the Butler family of Waterville.

In the early 1820s, the island was purchased from the Butlers by the predecessor to the Commissioners of Irish Lights using a compulsory purchase order.

Two lighthouses were opened on the Atlantic side of the island in 1826.

The photo above shows how the lighthouse is tucked in amongst the rocks. What a feat of engineering to build these structures in such isolated, dangerous conditions using early 19th century technology.

In 1880 the Office of Public Works (OPW) took over the remains of the island’s monastery, and eventually purchased the whole island, except for its lighthouses.

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And luckily for tourists, the good folk at the OPW continue to manage this island and prepare it for exploration each summer season.

In 2016 some large boulders fell from the top of the Skellig and landed right in the middle of the main pathway. Thanks to the OPW, the rocks were removed and this ancient monastic site is ready and waiting for today’s devoted tourists to brave the Atlantic waters in search of its wonders.

For anyone planning to visit the Skellig why not first stop in Valencia Island at the Skellig Experience Visitor Center. Their exhibitions are beautifully design for visitors to further understand the wonders of these islands.

They organize a boat trip around the Skellig, but landing on the island is coordinated through private boat owners. The information required for planning a trip is available on Heritage Ireland’s Skellig Michael web page.

Guest Post To And Fro:

Introducing Gleann Doherty:

Guided Tours Offered By Gleann:

An American Couple Tour Derry With Me:

History of Derry:

The Walls Of Derry:

The Siege Of Derry:

The Old Windmill:

Recent Derry History And The Bogside:

Gleann Doherty, Derry Guided Tours

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Celtic Origins Of The Term “Thin Places:”

“Heaven and earth are only three feet apart,

but in thin places that distance is even shorter.”

~ Celtic Saying

“Wisdom sits in places.”

~ Apache Proverb

Ireland – A Pile Of Old Rocks:

“My friend just returned from Ireland,

but she thought it was just a pile of old rocks.”

“How could your friend not fall in love with Ireland’s thin places,

marked out by our wise ancestors using cryptic stones

that have stood sentinel for multiple millennia?”

Genetically Wired To Appreciate Thin Places:

How To Recognize A “Thin Place?”

The After Effects Of Visiting Thin Places:

Where To Find Ireland’s Thin Places:

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and Blessings)

Irish American Mom

In Memory Of Eva Gore-Booth And Con Markiewicz

by William Butler Yeats

Lissadell House – A Family History By Brighid O’Sullivan

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Mom’s Recipes Are Featured On:

Mom’s Recipes and Ramblings Are Featured On Irish Central

Thanks For Visiting

Previously Featured On Irish American Mom

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Many Thanks to the Irish Blog Awards – Irish American Mom Won the Silver Award in the 2018 Diaspora Category

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Gleann Doherty,
Derry Guided Tours