Aleria's Adventures

The Skellig rocks The Skelligs (Na Scealga) are two rocks off the west coast of Ireland. One of the rocks is inaccessible. The other has a landing site that is untenable in some states of weather and sea. The allure of these rocks is twofold: 1) They are home to an exceptional number of seabirds, especially gannets and puffins and 2) they have exceptionally well-preserved early Christian remains.  Skellig Michael has a rather impressive monastic settlement, including beehive huts where the monks lived, a beehive church, a large beehive communal kitchen, a high carved cross and a burial area. Most astonishingly, the monastery is at the top of the rock. To get to it, you must climb 618 steps with precipices on either side. The steps are uneven in height and width, so it is not straightforward.  Alex and I have been trying to visit Skellig Michael since we moved to Ireland and we have sailed around it on our own boat. But there are only a limited number of boats licensed to land...

Knightstown from the pontoons So what do you do when a gale is forecast? You assemble your bicycles for a land trip. The morning was relatively nice and there was no gale in evidence, although the forecast was clearly not great. So we got underway soon after breakfast along the coast road to check out Portmagee.

The Skelligs on approach to Dingle Bay Convenient pontoon and the oldest evidence of life on earth Selfie with Skelligs When transiting the west coast of Ireland, it is prudent to know where to hole up for the night should the weather turn sour, which it can do so very quickly. Lying off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry, Valentia Island (Dairhbre; the island of the oak forest) offers such refuge.  Just past the remarkable Skelligs rising up from the ocean’s depths to dizzying heights, this is a place that’s easy to tuck into, except in a NW gale. There are at least five things that distinguish Valentia Island as a stopover while transiting the West Coast of Ireland: Knightstown is unlike most Irish villages by the sea in that it appears more Victorian English in architectural style It is geologically distinct and has a famous fossil It has a rich place in modern history as the place where the transatlantic telegraph...