skellig michael early christian monastery

This early monastery is dramatically situated on the slopes of a barren and rocky island which stands sentinel against the Atlantic waves on the south-western coast of Ireland. Tradition attributes the foundation of the monastery to St. Finan. The deaths of some of its monks are recorded in 823, 950 and 1044, but the monastery continued till the 12th or 13th century when its monks transferred to the mainland at Ballinskelligs. The monastic remains are sited on a saddle in the rock about 550 feet above sea level. Six beehive huts, two rectangular oratories, St. Michael's Church and a small area known as 'The Monk's Garden' are sited on a series of terraces below which the cliffs fall steeply to the sea. The beehive cells are round outside and square inside, some have little wall cupboards and may have had two storeys inside. Near this cluster of beehive huts is a rectangular stone oratory, like that at Gallarus (see under Dingle Peninsula ) while further to the north is another one.