The Skelligs

The ruins of Ballinskelligs Priory from the air.

Looking over the Spit from the narrow and precipitous South Peak across to the monastery on Skellig Michael, with the Small Skellig in the distance. The triangular shadow of the peak itself is visible on the water as well.

The monastery on Skellig Michael dates from the 6th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Perched on a man-made terrace 600 feet above the Atlantic, it's possibly my favourite place in the world. This photograph was made looking into the rising sun - a rare privilege!

The pre-dawn light illuminates the lower monk's garden on Skellig Michael. The Small Skellig and the mountains of Kerry lie in the background.

A lone figure lights the way to the monastery on the peak of Skellig Michael on a calm night.

The ridge of the north peak sweeps through the frame with the monastery sheltering in its lee at sunrise.

The Small Oratory on Skellig emits a welcoming glow under the stars with the Kerry coast and Small Skellig in the background.

Welcoming light spills out of some of the beehive huts that make up the Skellig Michael monastery on a calm night.

The Skellig monastery shelters beneath the jagged precipice of the North Peak at sunrise.

An aerial view of the hermitage clinging to the south peak of Skellig Michael.

This view of Skellig from an aircraft overhead reveals the entire island like a map. The eastern side is on the left. The boat landing can be made out as a pale area just above the eastern point, and you can follow the whole path from there to the monastery on the left peak.

The winter stars rise above the monastery of Skellig Michael on a calm night.

Photographed just after sunrise, this view from the western end of Skellig Michael shows the two lighthouses very effectively. As shafts of sunlight penetrate the clouds and light up the sea, the abandoned northern lighthouse sits high on its ridge in the centre of the frame. The still-operational southern light is very visible with its white painted walls.

The sun rises over the North Peak of Skellig Michael with the monastery huddled on its shoulder.

Skellig Michael is one of my favourite locations anywhere in the world. It has long been my desire to photograph the 6th century monastery here in good light, and in mid-2012 I was given the opportunity to do just that. Access to the island is restricted with tourists only permitted between the hours of 10am and 4pm - which is unfortunately when the light is at its worst during the summer months.
On this occasion I was able to overnight on the island and was granted a spectacular sunrise, which you see here.
The 'beehive' huts here are drystone construction and have stood in more or less this condition since the monastery was abandoned in the 13th century. Even the ground on which they are built is remarkable, as it's a man-made terrace produced by building up hundreds of tons of rock held in by a series of retaining walls. The monks had no choice in this, as there is virtually no naturally occurring flat space on the island.