Wife and I went to see Star Wars last night. I was suitably blown away and incredibly enough my wife found it entertaining as well (she's not into "sci-fi" stuff). Anyway, I'd heard that the Skellig's feature in this movie, but did not want to spoil it for myself. Anyhoo, so as not to spoil it (well, not too much anyway) for anyone who has not seen the movie yet, the ending scene is surprisingly not in a galaxy far far away - a bit closer to home.
The Skellig Rocks are off the South West coast of Ireland. You get to them by little 10-12 person boats and the ride can be a little rough. The Great Skellig was inhabited by monks from the 6th Century and often raided by Vikings, who plucked the odd monk off this wind/sea blasted rock to sell into slavery. Human life had a decent price back then. There would be 12 monks plus the abbot who lived in these little "rock hives". These dwellings are not mortared - just loose rock stacked up. Life on the Skellig's would have been very rough back then.
So, here's Luke's secret hangout.
The bird life there is extraordinary. Great Skellig Rock is inhabited by Puffin's - quite incredible birds that seem fearless of humans. They scream about the Skellig's like little rocket ships!
