County: Kerry Site name: Skellig Michael
Sites and Monuments Record No.: KE104A001 Licence number: 93E0195
Author: Alan Hayden, Archaeological Projects Ltd, 27 Coulson Avenue, Rathgar, Dublin 6.
Site type: Early medieval hermitage/pilgrimage site
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 424676m, N 560649m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.770662, -10.540524
Work this season, funded by the OPW, concentrated on the ‘Outer Terrace’, which lies on the north side of the South Peak and on the ‘Northwest Passage’ beneath the Needle’s Eye. The wall of the Outer Terrace was exposed and the interior of the terrace was excavated. This revealed the remains of a small leacht but little else. A broad ledge about 35m below the terrace was also excavated to retrieve stone collapsed from the terrace walls. The excavation showed that the monks had earlier cleared this ledge of stone, which was hoisted up to build the Outer Terrace.
The ‘Northwest Passage’ extends west from beneath the Needle’s Eye following a natural ledge on the vertical cliff. The remains of substantial lines of walling and some paving showed that this traverse varied up to 2m in width. Further work will be undertaken here next year to try to determine where the passage leads.
