Wolfhound Tours- Day 4- Skellig Michael, Gannets, dolphins and Pub crawl

Yesterday, Dave kept telling us not to get our hopes up to actually land on Skellig Michael. It is very dependent on wind, waves, swells, and tides. He said that only 1 in 10 people that try get to land. Due to safety concerns it is carefully regulated and controlled. At breakfast, we were told that they pushed out time back from 9 to10 am. It was a sunny morning, but a bit windy. Still no confirmation about landing on the island, but we were all crossing our fingers. We walked to the dock in Portmagee and boarded the boat. Only 12 at a time can land and there are a restricted number of boats that receive a license to do so.
We left the harbor and once out in the ocean, the captain of the boat pointed out a huge number of Gannets flying and diving over the water. He decided to head out there because if the Gannets are diving for fish, there will probably be dolphins. Off we went and he was correct. Lots of diving birds and lots of dolphons. So much fun to watch.



We headed toward the island and were informed that it is very important to do exactly what we are told to get off the boat. There are steep steps in the side of the rock that must be timed with the rocking of the boat. Once we were all off, we began out journey to the top.


The name "Skellig" is derived from a Gaelic word for a splinter of stone (sceilig). Skellig Michael is named after the archangel Michael, said to have appeared there to help Saint Patrick banish serpents into the Irish sea. The monks started in 538 and it took 600 years to complete. They lived on fish, eggs and vegetables they grew. It became more famous with the filming of Star Wars, but it is still an amazing place to see. Many, many steps to get to the top where the beehive stone huts still remain.














Once we came down and re-boarded the boat, we rode around the island, saw the lighthouse and then Little Skellig and viewed a few seals and the Gannet Colony- the largest in the world.







This was an amazing and thrilling day. I am so grateful that we were able to experience this wonder. We are headed to the town of Dingle where we will be for the next two nights. They boast of having 56 pubs. We did a quick stop at a classic Irish patchwork landscape for pictures. Dinner in Dingle and then a group of us created our own pub crawl to listen to a fantastic variety of live music and step dancers.








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