Yesterday I posted a photo of my brother Jim and I on Skellig Michael, a rocky island about 25 miles off the shore of Ireland. If an excursion requires boating my brother will hurry to sign up it, and so there we were.
Skellig Michael is an ancient monastic outpost and more recently home to lighthouse keepers and their families. To see the remains of the monastery, you needed to climb 650 stone steps that were carefully laid by the monks. The monastery was first sacked by the Vikings in A.D. 812 and again in A.D. 823. Despite these sackings and the privations of this island life atop a rocky crag, the monastery remained functional until it moved ashore to the Ballinskelligs in the 12th century.
Needless to say, climbing those steps to the ancient monastery is grueling and not for the faint of heart. The concept of handrails is unknown and just the sea greets you if you slip and fall. Of course some folks on the day we climbed Skellig Michael looked quite relaxed, as if they were out for a summer stroll and a picnic. Perhaps it wasn’t their first visit. Having been steeped in a Catholic childhood this visit held emotional overtones for my brother and I, as well as physical challenges. Faith that we would achieve our goal to get to the top helped us.
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| View of boat launch at Skellig Michael, photo by Jim |
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| View from the monastery of Skellig Michael, photo by Jim |
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