Stelligs Michael

I have always had a yen for the mysterious and unexplained, a riddle without an answer or why humankind would build underground cities and where are they? ( another post another day) or what lies in them thar ancient hills?

I found a story that piqued my interest and left me still scratching my head in wonder. It is Skelligs Michael, an island thirteen miles from Ballinskelligs Bay off the coast of Ireland. Because of its fragmented history and its remoteness, many pilgrimages have sought this enigmatic site. They call it sacred but no one really knows why.




You can liken it to the Anuhazi sites in America, an abandoned community. High (714 feet)on this island, a terrifying steepness by average standards, has now the acute attention of the gov't of Eire and has forbidden tourists to scale the 600-700 and something steps ( who's counting?)--steps made out of slate, without guardrails. Even though there have been fatalities in the climb, and who knows how many unrecorded deaths, monks built the staircase to their heaven with their bare hands. A monastic settlement was founded around the jagged peaks of stone and slate by St. Fionan, the Kerry Saint, in the 6th Century ( 1,450 yrs ago) where monks worked and prayed and chanted possibly, overlooking a magnificent panorama. Their only visitors were the gannets; the largest colony of seabirds in the world it is said. At the top are beehives made of slate, their residences with openings at the top to let in the light of day or perhaps to let out the steam and smoke of a fire? The architecture reminds me of a Native American hut/tee pee. Oddly, the rock huts appear round on the outside but inside it is rectangular so the sleeping platforms can be built into the walls. The monks used terraces outside to grow vegetables and caught fish from the ocean below. Birds eggs were the main food supply.

There is a legend that St. Patrick waged a final battle there, fighting the devils and venomous snakes that plagued Ireland. I am one not to believe in myths, give me the cold, hard facts. But who knows what war was contended good vs evil? Many believe it is the site of Ulta Ur Lohas, a piece of Old Atlantis, still standing.

The monks left in the 13th Century and settled on the mainland. However, historically, Vikings had invaded Skelligs several times, bringing their unholy energy but for what purpose? Nothing of wealth resides there or could have resided there but love and peace. That love must have taken hold in the tundra; the very craggy rocks because that peace exudes even to those who cruise by in choppy waters and look up. Even the wind must have a faint brogue. Or at least a hint of Celtic song.