A trip to the Skelligs and you're on the edge of the world

A trip to the Skelligs is like dipping into a history book. It’s a pilgrimage. How apt, writes Margaret Hickey

‘IT IS up there with Machu Pichu,” was the verdict of one of the Americans when asked how he rated the Skellig experience as we headed towards the landing pier for the boat back to Port Magee.

Never having been to Machu Pichu, I can agree with the sentiment nevertheless. It is up there with any of the great standalone moments, to be recalled and recounted over a lifetime. Finding a reference against which to rate it, though, is fairly pointless because Skellig Michael, in its natural and human history, is like nowhere else on earth.