Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Skellig Experience Centre
Whether or not you're actually sailing to Skellig Michael (described later), this little cen-
ter (with basic exhibits and a fine 15-minute film) explains it well—both the story of the
monks and the natural environment.
Cost and Hours:
€5, daily July-Aug 10:00-19:00, until 18:00 in spring and fall, closed
mid-Nov-mid-March, last entry one hour before closing, call ahead outside of peak sea-
son as hours may vary, on Valentia Island beside bridge linking it to Portmagee, tel. 066/
947-6306,
www.skelligexperience.com
.
Boat Trips:
The Skellig Experience Centre arranges two-hour boat trips, circling both
Skellig Michael and Little Skellig (without actually bringing people ashore)—ideal for
those who want a close look without the stair climb and vertigo that go with a visit to the
island (€27.50, sailing daily about 14:45 and returning by 17:00, weather permitting, de-
part from Valentia Island pier 50 yards below the Skellig Experience Centre).
Valentia Heritage Museum
The humble Knightstown schoolhouse, built in 1861, houses an equally humble but in-
teresting little museum highlighting the quirky things of historic interest on Valentia Is-
land. You'll see a 19th-century schoolroom and learn about tetrapods (those first fish to
climb onto land—which locals claim happened here). You'll also follow the long story
of the expensive, frustrating, and heroic battle to lay telegraph cable across the Atlant-
ic, which—after some false starts—finally succeeded in 1866, when the largest ship in
the world connected this tiny island of Valentia with Newfoundland. This project was the
initiative of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, which later became Western Union. These
stories and more are told with intimate black-and-white photos and typewritten pages.
Evolution in Ireland: Tetrapods to Marconi
Evolution, literacy, communication—Ireland has played a starring role in all three.
Many Irish paleontologists believe that the fossilized tetrapod tracks preserved
on Valentia Island are the oldest in Europe. It was here that some of the first fish
slithered out of the water on four stubby legs 385 million years ago, onto what
would become the Isle of Saints and Scholars. Over time, those tetrapods evolved
into the ancestors of today's amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals...and humans,
with the desire to record their thoughts and history, and communicate with others
across the miles.
