monastery kerry

This monastery was founded for monks who came to the mainland here from the offshore island of Skellig Michael in the 12th or 13th century. As with their former monastery, this one was also dedicated to St. Michael.

The buildings have been partially eroded by the sea. The two remaining churches seem to date however from the 15th century and have windows and a door with dressed stones. Adjoining one of the churches is a 15th century cloister garth with a large hall on the other side...

This early monastery is dramatically situated on the slopes of a barren and rocky island which stands sentinel against the Atlantic waves on the south-western coast of Ireland. Tradition attributes the foundation of the monastery to St. Finan. The deaths of some of its monks are recorded in 823, 950 and 1044, but the monastery continued till the 12th or 13th century when its monks transferred to the mainland at Ballinskelligs. The monastic remains are sited on a saddle in the rock about 550 f...