Skellig Michael
Skellig Michael, or Great Skellig, is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, 11.6 km west of the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. A Christian monastery was founded on the island at some point between the 6th and 8th century, and was continuously occupied until its abandonment in the late 12th century. The remains of this monastery, along with most of the island itself, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1996.HistoryPre-MonasticSkellig Michael was uninhabited prior to the foundation of its monastery. Folklore holds that Ir, son of Milesius, was buried on the island, and a text from the 8th or 9th century states that Duagh, King of West Munster, fled to "Scellecc" after a feud with the Kings of Cashel, although it is not known whether these events actually took place.MonasticThe monastery's exact date of foundation is not known. The first definite reference to monastic activity on the island is a record of the death of "Suibhini of Skelig" dating from the 8th century, however Saint Fionán is claimed to have founded the monastery in the 6th century.The site had been dedicated to Saint Michael by at least 1044 (when the death of "Aedh of Scelic-MhichÃ" is recorded), however this dedication may have occurred as early as 950, around which time a new church was added to the monastery (typically done to celebrate a consecration) which was called Saint Michael's Church.
