There has been a lighthouse on Skellig Michael since 1826. The Skellig Michael lighthouse still works today, and you can see it from our boats. This post covers why it was built, who built it and how the keepers lived.
Why a light was needed
In the early 1800s, more ships were crossing the Atlantic and sailing along the south-west coast of Ireland. There were not enough lights between Loop Head in County Clare and Cape Clear in County Cork, and many ships were wrecked there.
The sea around the Skelligs was especially dangerous, because big Atlantic swells and poor visibility were common.
In 1818, Maurice Fitzgerald, the Knight of Kerry, asked for a light on the island. He wrote to the Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin, also known as the Ballast Board. This body ran Irish lighthouses before the Commissioners of Irish Lights.
He pointed to the merchant ships being lost in Dingle Bay and Ballinskelligs Bay. He asked for a permanent light on the Great Skellig, another name for Skellig Michael.
George Halpin and the building work
George Halpin, an inspector and engineer for the Ballast Board, designed the lighthouses and oversaw the building work.
Building on the island was much harder than on the mainland, because the rock rises 218 metres from the sea.
Work started in August 1821, and all the materials, including stone and slate, came by sea and were hauled up the cliffs.
Workers used explosives to blast a road and foundations into the rock, and one worker, Peter Cane, was killed during the blasting. The work cost £45,721 in total, a large sum at the time.
The Upper Light and the Lower Light
Halpin’s plan had two towers, the Upper Light and the Lower Light, and both were working by 4 December 1826.
The Upper Light stood higher up on the west side, while the Lower Light stood closer to the sea on the south side. Each had houses for the keepers.
In 1870 the Upper Light was switched off. By then a new lighthouse on Inis Tearaght, in the Blasket Islands, had taken over much of its work. From then on, the Lower Light was the main light on Skellig Michael.
How the light changed
The first lights burned oil and needed constant care and a steady supply of fuel.
In 1909, Trinity House and the Board of Trade approved an upgrade. A new light was fitted that flashed three times, with a brightness of 120,000 candelas.
The light was changed to electric power in 1966, and in 1967 a new light of 1,800,000 candelas was fitted.
In 2001 the light was converted to solar power, but the rotating lens from the early 20th century is still in place.
Life for the keepers
Until 1969, keepers and their families lived on the island on a rota. Their houses near the Lower Light were the only shelter on the island.
Keepers could only come and go when the sea allowed, and in winter storms they could be cut off from the mainland for weeks. Supplies had to be hauled up the cliffs, and the light had to be kept going day and night.
Later, houses were built for the keepers’ families in Knightstown on Valentia Island. The families lived there, and the keepers went out to the rock for their shifts.
A helicopter pad was finished in 1969, and after that keepers no longer had to land by boat to start a shift.
Automation
The lighthouse was automated on 22 April 1987, and the keepers left the island. The lighthouse buildings are still looked after today.
Skellig Michael has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. Visitors are asked to leave no trace, which means taking nothing away and leaving nothing behind.
Monks lived on the island for centuries before the keepers, and you can read about the daily life of the Skellig Michael monks.
Seeing the Skellig Michael lighthouse today
The best way to see the lighthouse is from the water. Our Skellig Islands boat tour circles Skellig Michael and Little Skellig, and from the boat you can see the Lower Light and its buildings.
The boat tour takes about 2.5 to 3 hours, has no landing and no climb, and suits all ages. It runs from April to October, weather permitting.
Our guide to what to expect on a Skellig Islands boat trip takes you through the trip from check-in to getting back to Portmagee.