We were supposed to go on a boat tour of Skellig Michael today – rocky islands that monks used to live on in the 13th century, and now of Star Wars fame. “Supposed to” being the operative here – the weather can be fickle in October, and tours to go physically on Skellig Michael end in September.
The tour departs from Portmagee, about 3.5 hours south of Galway in County Kerry. We set out at 8 am, partly for timing and partly because that’s when the paid street parking was up.
The road to Portmagee took us on a segment of the Ring of Kerry, famous for exquisite beauty and therefore tourist bus hordes. Fortunately, we were going the opposite direction of the buses, so we didn’t get stuck behind one. We zigzagged above bays and between hills. It looked a bit like Iceland but with trees.
Our boat trip was scheduled for 1:30 PM, departing from the pier in the middle of the town. We grabbed lunch in a small cafe near the docks so we wouldn’t be starving on the boat. Another group of Americans asked us if we had taken any parts off the car while driving. Um…no? I’m the seven seater people mover master. I even park like an Irish person now, facing whatever way I want on the street. Y’all are a bunch of driving plebs.
Portmagee is a cutesy town that hams up their Star Wars link, in a different way from the Northern Ireland Game of Thrones tourism frenzy. The Northern Irelanders had a large part in filming and acting in the series, and they are all very excited to tell you about their roles in the film. Portmagee, not so much.
To be fair, Skellig Michael is pretty cool, regardless of film claims to fame. There are old abandoned monastic settlements on the rocky island, and in summer, you can walk up 600 steps (!!) to see them. It’s a bit late in the year for that, but usually you can grab a boat tour out this time of year to get close.
Brightly-colored houses 
After lunch, we waited near the ticket office for the guide. Nobody showed up at the appointed time – we called to make sure that we were in the right place. Turns out they had cancelled the tour yesterday due to rough and windy weather and we never received an email 🙁 Oh.
Well…now we’re 3.5 hours out of Galway for….basically no reason. We decided to hop on the Skellig Ring because it was nearby and less crowded.
Our first stop: the Cliffs of Kerry. You can pay four euros to go walk up and look at some of the beehive huts and gaze out at Skellig Michael, puffin island, and watch the north Atlantic pound the rocky coast.
As a bonus, we made friends with some horses on the walk up.
Just horsin’ around 
Neigh, I say.
These cliffs are windy as hell. The only other time I had experienced wind this strong was when I was living in Japan. A typhoon was coming in and I had to run for the bus to get to class on time. Since the high-rises were about 20 stories tall and we lived on the ocean, it was like running through a wind tunnel between buildings on the best of days. It was so windy I was essentially running in place.
That was the cliffs of Kerry.
Not an exaggeration 
Sock life
The view past the windiest parts was rewarding, even though we almost blew back down the cliff and maybe even into a ditch at one point.
Skellig Michael in the distance 
After the cliffs, we headed straight up a large hill, which overlooked Portmagee and the surrounding fields.
Once you were through the pass, you descend switchbacks barely wide enough for one car, and the road passes by a small, rocky beach surrounded by holiday homes.
Our final destination on the Skellig Ring was the small town of Ballinskellig (because we are ballers). It’s where the monks who used to live on Skellig Michael moved – the weather on the tiny islands was too rough to be livable, even for monks.
It’s got a small castle (Ballinskellig castle) just across the way from a small beach, which presumably gets warm enough to swim at in the summer. Walking to the castle was quite the long hike, and it was windy and cold, so I settled for taking a selfie with it. The braver (or foolish?) members of our party put their toes in the Atlantic. I did not wish for sand regrets. Pass.
And with that, it’s back to Galway for some food in the pub of my people!
