
on your wall
Down the East Steps, Skellig Michael, Kerry
Changed your mind? Send it back within 30 days for a full refund; you cover the return postage. If it arrives damaged or isn't right, I'll replace it or refund you, free. And it's guaranteed for life against fading.
There are three staircases on Skellig Michael. Most people only ever see the South Steps, the current route from the boat landing to the monastery. But the East Steps are the ones that stay with you. They're the steepest of the three, dropping away from the monastery at a gradient that makes your knees think twice. And here's the thing: they end in midair. The original base was blasted away in the 1800s during lighthouse construction, so this ancient stairway, over a thousand years old, simply stops. The monks carved these into raw rock six hundred feet above the Atlantic, and now the bottom just isn't there anymore.
I made this photograph looking down towards Little Skellig and the Iveragh Peninsula on a quiet evening. The cloud had been heavy all day, but it was beginning to break apart, and a band of diffused golden light reached across the water between the two Skelligs. Little Skellig was lit up, that dense white mass of gannets visible even at distance, the mainland sitting low on the horizon beyond.
The stone terracing on the right gives you some sense of the gradient. These were built by people with no fear of exposure, who needed to move between the monastery and the sea with purpose. Standing there with nothing between you and open ocean, you understand why they chose this place!
Read the full story of the island's history and find practical information on visiting Skellig Michael in my complete guide.
We ship worldwide, and every print from Exhibition size up goes free to Ireland, the UK and Europe. Studio prints and books carry a small charge. You pay one delivery charge per order. If it includes a print from Exhibition size up, that rate covers everything in it. Outside Europe, each rate covers up to two prints from Exhibition size up, or up to four Studio prints and books. Larger orders pay the rate again for each further two large prints, or each further four smaller pieces.
- Studio prints & books: €10 Ireland, €20 UK and Europe, €30 US and Canada, €40 rest of the world
- Exhibition size and up: free to Ireland, the UK and Europe, €50 US and Canada, €100 rest of the world
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