¹Shaw, Bernard. Collected Letters [of] Bernard Shaw, 1898-1910. Ed. Dan H. Laurence. London: M. Reinhardt, 1972. 941.
From Shaw's letter to Frederick Jackson: "Parknasilla Hotel, Sneem, 18th September 1910."

²Kravis, Judy. "Skellig." Books Ireland 196. Summer (1996): 183-84.

³Harbison, Peter. "John Windele's Visit to Skellig Michael in 1851." Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 9 (1976): 125-26.

⁴Allen, J. Romilly. "Notes on the Antiquities in Co. Kerry Visited by the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and the Cambrian Archæological Association, August, 1891 (Continued)." The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 2.3 (1892): 278.
The trip (from Ventry Harbor) took four hours. Romily wrote of his group's excursion: "The members, sixty in number, soon assembled on the beach, and were rapidly rowed across the harbour to the ship, which was lying close to the entrance, nearly a mile off. Here a terrible disappointment awaited the ladies, for the Commander, Lieut. Hugh B. Rooper, declined to undertake the responsibility of risking their valuable lives by taking them on the voyage, and so they were sent ashore without more ado."

⁵In the 1990s, teaching at Bradley University, I took groups of students on "Photosafari" excursions to Ireland. In 1998, on our boat returning from Skellig Michael we endured a downpour the entire way home. Students posted on the web their diary entries. On student David Knape's page for that day he noted that "the rain was interrupted for a time by harder rain, but we didn't notice because of the freezing winds."

⁶Harbison, Peter. "John Windele's Visit to Skellig Michael in 1851." Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 9 (1976): 125-26.

⁷"New York Tourist Dies after Fall on Skellig Michael." The Dingle News. (via Radio Kerry) 21 Sept. 2009. Web. 27 Aug. 2013. <http://www.dinglenews.com/news.asp?id=2841>.
57-year-old Christine Danielson Spooner of Rochester, New York fell on September 20; in May, 77 year old Joseph Gaughan from Pennsylvania was the fatality. Another tourist, Carola Korte, was killed in 1995.
In 1851 John Windele wrote of his conversation with the lighthouse keeper: "His life whilst here has not been without unpleasant events, having lost a son by· being 'clifted,' that is, falling down a cliff. This fatal spot he showed us. It is in the blue cove. The narrow roadway winds round it towards the upper light house, and having the security of a stout parapet wall we were able to inspect a cliff-guarded bay bristling with rocks beneath, over which the waves chafed as they came in from countless miles of ocean. A foot of the unfortunate young man was all that was ever found." (Harbison, Peter. "John Windele's Visit to Skellig Michael in 1851." Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 9 (1976): 144.)
In the 1820s an assistant lighthouse keeper was killed by falling over the cliff while cutting grass for his cow. (Lavelle, Des. Skellig: Island Outpost of Europe. Montreal: McGill-Queen's UP, 1976. 58-9.)
Another lighthouse keeper disappeared in 1957. (Byrne Ó Cléirigh Ltd. Safety Review: Skellig Michael World Heritage Site; Final Report. Dublin: National Monuments Division, Office of Public Works Ireland, 2010.)

⁸Byrne Ó Cléirigh Ltd. Safety Review: Skellig Michael World Heritage Site; Final Report. Dublin: National Monuments Division, Office of Public Works Ireland, 2010.
The Safety Review concluded that it would be inconsistent, and potentially confusing to tourists, to have a safety railing in one place and not in others. Furthermore, it stated that there was a danger that if a safety railing were installed at the place where the two fatal accident occurred in 2009 then that location might become a desirable place to stop and take photographs, making the area before and beyond the proposed safety railing more dangerous due to a queue forming at those places. Other concerns were centered upon the aesthetic and heritage impacts of any potential railings. The complete report may be read here.

⁹Skellig Michael World Heritage Site Management Plan 2008 – 2018. Rep. Dublin: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Office of Public Works, 2008.
This report may be read in its entirety here.

¹⁰Harbison 144.
According to Charles Smith, "In the spring and beginning of summer the country people resort hither in small boats, when the sea is calm, to catch these birds. They eat the flesh, which is fishy and rank; but the principal profit is made by the feathers. The birds are exceeding fat, and the persons who take them, carry on a kind of traffic with them, by exchanging two salted puffins for a peck of meal. They eat them in lent, and on their fast days as well as fish." (Smith, Charles. The Ancient and Present State of the County of Kerry. Containing a Natural, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Historical and Topographical Description Thereof. Dublin: Printed for the Author, 1756. 112, footnote x.)

¹¹Skellig Michael World Heritage Site Management Plan 2008 – 2018. Rep. Dublin: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Office of Public Works, 2008. 11.
The death of the monk is recorded in The Martyrology of Tallaght, written near the end of the eighth century by Mealruain. The Annals of Ulster provides the account of the plunder of the monastery by the Vikings. The Annals of Inisfallen refer to the death of Flann, son of Cellach, abbot of Scelec in 882.
It is clear that St. Michael's Church is of a later date due to its mortared straight walls and large stones, unlike the dry-stone corbeled oratories and beehive cells, the earliest structures of the monastery. (Horn, Walter, Jenny White Marshall, and Grellan D. Rourke. The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael. Berkeley:  University of California Press,  1990. 10-11.)
According to archaeologist Michael Gibbons, who has claimed the discovery of traces of previously unknown, and possibly earlier sets of steps on the island, the monks could have moved into a "pre-existing citadel." ("Skelligs Settlement May Predate Monastery." Clerical Whispers. 11 Aug. 2010. Web. 28 Aug. 2013. <http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2010/08/skelligs-settlement-may-predate.html>.)
Skellig Michael is not alone as a monastic site named for the saint of high places. St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall and Mont St. Michel in Brittany come to mind, both Celtic in origin and both homes to monasteries.

¹²Smith, Charles. The Ancient and Present State of the County of Kerry. Containing a Natural, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Historical and Topographical Description Thereof. Dublin: Printed for the Author, 1756. 112-118. These pages may be read in their entirety here.

¹³Lavelle, Des. Skellig: Island Outpost of Europe. Montreal: McGill-Queen's UP, 1976. 11-12.
Some of the mythology of the Skelligs may have originated with much later political propaganda indented to enhance the reputations of different ruling families. (Bourke, Edward, Alan R. Hayden, Ann Lynch. Skellig Michael, Co. Kerry: the monastery and South Peak: Archaeological stratigraphic report: excavations 1986–2010. Rep. Dublin: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Office of Public Works, 2008.)

¹⁴Dunraven, Earl of. Notes on Irish Architecture, Volume 1. London: George Bell & Sons, 1875. 30.

¹⁵Horn, Walter, Jenny White Marshall, and Grellan D. Rourke. The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael. Berkeley:  University of California Press,  1990. 10-11. The volume may be read in its entirety here.

¹⁶Horn 10-11.
The term Corcu Duibne has survived in the name of the Dingle Peninsula.
According to Bourke, Hayden, and Lynch, "No evidence for this association with Fionán has thus far been identified in early medieval texts...Skellig Michael is not recorded as one of the sites founded by Fionán, which is a curious omission, given the likely proposed regional significance of the site (Ó Carragáin). 2008).The earliest identified instance of the association is the assertion by Smith (1756, 61) in his account of the site that it was originally founded by Fionán. Subsequent scholarly work on the site derives the association with Fionán from Smith's account." (Bourke, Edward, Alan R. Hayden, Ann Lynch. Skellig Michael, Co. Kerry: the monastery and South Peak: Archaeological stratigraphic report: excavations 1986–2010. Rep. Dublin: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Office of Public Works, 2008. 19-21.)
The early Irish church had two different St. Fionáns: Saint Finian the Leper, and St. Finnian of Clonard.

¹⁷Horn 79-80.
The mentions of Viking raids are found in the text "War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill," the first in an entry of 821–823 is the one about Etgal, the other (undated) occurs after the Etgal entry and before another dated 850.
Bourke, Hayden, and Lynch offer further details regarding the second Viking raid: "A single Norse raid is recorded in annals, in 824, resulting in the death of Étgal, possibly the abbot but certainly an important cleric. A record of a further raid is preserved in the Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib (CGG). CGG is a problematical text, as it is primarily a work of political propaganda (though early scholars mistakenly viewed it as a historical treatise), but it does draw directly on the contemporary annalistic records (Ní Mhaonaigh 1996), many of which do not survive to the present. So it is likely that the reference to the additional raid on Skellig Michael is authentic." (Bourke, Edward, Alan R. Hayden, Ann Lynch. Skellig Michael, Co. Kerry: the monastery and South Peak: Archaeological stratigraphic report: excavations 1986–2010. Rep. Dublin: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Office of Public Works, 2008. 21-22.)

¹⁸Lavelle 12-14.
Among other sources, the Viking practice of  "tossing of infants on top of their lances to and from each other" is mentioned in The Vikings: A History by Robert Ferguson (2009). (Skaar, Freydis. " Ranvaik Owns This Box: The Vikings: A History." Open Letters Monthly an Arts and Literature Reviews. Web. 28 Aug. 2013. <http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/ranvaik-owns-this-box/>.)
Of course, it may be that this account of the Norsemen's brutality is hyperbole. There is always this possibility.

¹⁹Lavelle, Des. The Skellig Story: Ancient Monastic Outpost. Dublin: O'Brien, 1993. 15.
Other sources, however, maintain that Olaf I was baptized by Ælfheah, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was himself later murdered by the Vikings.

²⁰Bourke, Edward, Alan R. Hayden, Ann Lynch. Skellig Michael, Co. Kerry: the monastery and South Peak: Archaeological stratigraphic report: excavations 1986–2010. Rep. Dublin: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Office of Public Works, 2008. 22-23.
The Ballinskelligs monastery may have been founded as early as the 12th century, but was clearly well established by the late thirteenth century.

²¹Bourke 22-23.
Although removed to their new foundation at Ballinskelligs, it is probable that the Augustinians continued to maintain the structures on Skellig Michael, use it for periods of penance, and promote and managing pilgrimages there.

²²Lavelle 61.
The lighthouse, in 1914, began using explosive fog signals. In 1936 a gigantic explosion resulted when some 300 of these charges went off simultaneously. "'It nearly lifted the island out of the sea, but no harm ensued and this type of signal remained in use until 1953."
According to Crofton Croker (via his boatman) "when the light houses were being constructed that on moving up powder to be stored in the chapels one of the crosses was broken, in consequence of which no Protestant would be allowed to work there afterwards..." (Harbison, Peter. "John Windele's Visit to Skellig Michael in 1851." Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 9 (1976): 146.)

²³The area known as the "Monks' Garden" was found to contain some peaty soil, giving rise to the speculation it was used for cultivation. Here, as in other maritime regions with poor soil—or no soil— seaweed was mixed with sand to create a base for cultivation.

²⁴De Paor, Liam. "A Survey of Sceilg Mhichíl." The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 85.2 (1955): 180-185.
In addition to the church, oratories, and beehive huts there are three leachta (stone altars) in the monastic enclosure. The two most highly decorated stone crosses are believed associated with these altars. (Skellig Michael World Heritage Site Management Plan 2008 – 2018. Rep. Dublin: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Office of Public Works, 2008. 81-5.)
The monastic enclosure also had two wells, unusual at such a high elevation. According to Des Lavelle the wells were said to "become dry in the case of cursing, swearing or blasphemy." (Lavelle, Des. Skellig: Island Outpost of Europe. Montreal: McGill-Queen's UP, 1976. 48-52.)

²⁵Skellig Michael World Heritage Site Management Plan 2008 – 2018. Rep. Dublin: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Office of Public Works, 2008. 92.
The authors reported that a number of small, crudely made stone crosses were among the approximately 110 artifacts recovered during the excavations. Those from the Early Medieval period included part of a lignite ring/amulet and a perforated lignite disc, a small iron knife with wooden handle, part of a decorated bone comb plate, and a bronze ring-pin.

²⁶Smith, Charles. The Ancient and Present State of the County of Kerry. Containing a Natural, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Historical and Topographical Description Thereof. Dublin: Printed for the Author, 1756. 115.
Smith here is referring to a section of the pilgrimage path known as the "Eagle's Nest."

²⁷Lavelle 18-20.

²⁸Allen 283.
The cross-etched stone at the end of the Spit was last noted in 1977 and is presumed to have fallen into the sea. It may be seen here in a 1977 photograph. The Spit has also been referred to as the Spindle. Some have speculated that the upright slab (now lost) as the end of the Spit was the Stone of Don, reputed to commemorate one of the Milesians lost in the legendary 1400 BCE invasion.

²⁹Horn 71-2.
The explorers initially did their exploration on their own time, using mountaineering equipment and calling in helicopters when necessary.
It was the workers from Ordnance Survey who first noted possible structures on the South Peak in 184 (pp. 15-16).

³⁰Horn 23+.

³¹Horn 14.

³²"Report on the Mission to Skellig Michael, Ireland, 25– 29 November 2007." UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 28 Nov. 2007. Web. 02 Sept. 2013. <http://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/10056>.
The South Peak was surveyed in 1984 and 1985, with the technical assistance of mountaineers, who often used harnesses and climbing ropes, as well as zip lines for their supplies and equipment.

³³Skellig Michael World Heritage Site Management Plan 2008 – 2018. Rep. Dublin: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Office of Public Works, 2008. 20.
Summing up the site's qualifications to be listed as a World Heritage Site, the Plan states: "The dramatic topography of the island and the integration of the various monastic elements within this landscape reinforce the uniqueness of this site. The presence of the monks on the island for such a long period of time has bequeathed us more than just physical remains. They have imbued the place with a strong sense of spirituality, which is palpable to anyone who has had the opportunity and privilege of spending time there. The physical remains bear testament to the remarkable achievements of the monks, which cannot fail to invoke a sense of wonder and awe. The sense of remoteness and removal from everyday life is further reinforced by the island's distance from the mainland and its frequent inaccessibility due to the unpredictable Atlantic Ocean."
In defended their decisions regarding conservation, the Plan noted: "In the case of Skellig Michael, one of the most fundamental issues is that of structural stability. Until structural stability is achieved, no other conservation works can be undertaken, except for temporary remedial or holding works. Only when stabilisation has been achieved can final consideration be given to detailed conservation and presentation."

³⁴Allen 284.
The lighthouse workers also were responsible for building some of the modern walls at the monastic site, where they were temporarily housed. (Lavelle, Des. Skellig: Island Outpost of Europe. Montreal: McGill-Queen's UP, 1976. 36.)
On Inishmore in the Aran Islands, the Iron Age fort of Dun Aengus has massive stone buttresses that are entirely the work of 19-century Board of Works architects.

³⁵"Restored to Death? Skellig Michael's World Heritage Status Under Threat." History Ireland. Web. May/Jun 2007. <http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/restored-to-death-skellig-michaels-world-heritage-status-under-threat/>.
Gibbons quoted from an unpublished 2000 MA thesis: "The damage was being inflicted by the OPW rather than by tourists; it described a reconstructed monastic toilet as a 'work of fiction'; it noted that the intact small oratory has been virtually rebuilt; and it criticised the layout as a work of imagination rather than being based on any surviving evidence." Gibbons maintained that "The potential value of Skellig Michael for future researchers is being destroyed. Genuine archaeological remains have been replaced by faux-monastic twenty-first-century imitations."

³⁶Rourke, Grellan D., and Ann Lynch. "Skellig Michael Restored to Death?: A Response." History Ireland 16.1 (2008): 8-9.

³⁷"Report on the Mission to Skellig Michael, Ireland, 25– 29 November 2007." UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 28 Nov. 2007. Web. 02 Sept. 2013. <http://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/10056>.
In reaffirming the listing of Skellig Michael as a World Heritage Site, the report seemed to strike a balance between fully endorsing the restoration work and fully accepting the critique of Michael Gibbons: "The island has very particular management issues brought about by its isolated and exposed position in the Atlantic, the fragility of the remains, and the importance of the sea birdlife. The long and expensive campaign to conserve and reconstruct the monuments has been mirrored by the vigour of criticism. All those who are connected with the island have a strong emotional attachment and commitment to it."

³⁸Chatterton, Georgiana. Rambles in the South of Ireland during the Year 1838, 1. London: Saunders and Otley, 1839. 290.
Windele suggests that a man named Maurice O'Connell was the 'gentleman in the neighbourhood' who supplied the account of the Skelligs for Lady Chatterton. (Harbison, Peter. "John Windele's Visit to Skellig Michael in 1851." Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 9 (1976): 90.) The text from Chatterton may be read in its entirety here.

³⁹Harbison 136.
Harbison explains Windele's remarks about Skellig Michael's pagan use for dragon worship: "Why, Windele argues, would Christians have ever adopted such a place if they had not the motive of alienating the minds of the people from pagan causes of pilgrimage? Any such attraction could not have been left to pagans, and he finishes up by speculating about how the pagans handed it over to the Christians." According to Harbison, Wendele was apparently influenced by an 1834 article in Archoeologia, "Observations on Dracontia."

⁴⁰Cambrensis, Giraldus. The Topography of Ireland. (originally written in 1187) in The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis, Thomas Wright, ed. London: George Bell and Sons, 1882. 134.
According to Bourke, Hayden, and Lynch: "Giraldus Cambrensis's account of the site is not particularly informative. He does not name Skellig Michael, but describes how a hollow stone situated outside a church miraculously produces wine for the celebration of the Eucharist each day. This miracle occurs 'in the south of Munster near Cork' on a 'certain island which has within it a church of Saint Michael, revered for its true holiness since ancient times' (O'Meara 1982, 80). Despite the dubious geography of the reference it is unlikely that any location other than Skellig Michael would fit the broader description; in addition, the miraculous tale recounted occurs in a later document, which definitely confirms Skellig Michael as the location." ((Bourke, Edward, Alan R. Hayden, Ann Lynch. Skellig Michael, Co. Kerry: the monastery and South Peak: Archaeological stratigraphic report: excavations 1986–2010. Rep. Dublin: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Office of Public Works, 2008. 23.)

⁴¹Dunraven, Earl of. Notes on Irish Architecture, Volume 1. London: George Bell & Sons, 1875. 36.
Stokes (Dunraven's editor) credits "Mr. W. M. Hennessy for the folk belief about birds, "found by him in a MS account by Thaddeus Moynihan, furnished to Edward Llhwyd.""
Smith reports the same folk belief derisively: "...but this seems to be the remains of some monkish legend; and many others of the fame kind are related of this place, with an account of which, I will not tire the reader's patience.

⁴²Lavelle 24-6.
The author tells of another island legend, that of "Eliza's Corner," a spot so named in the 19th century, but now lost due to fallen rock:. "Eliza Callaghan, after whom the place was called, was a beautiful young woman who used to sit out at this corner for hours on end knitting in the sunshine. But was she a lighthouse daughter, much admired by the Portmagee men, or was she the mourning mother of the two children, Patrick and William Callaghan, who died in 1868 and 1869, aged two and three years, and who are buried in the mediaeval church ruin in the monastery?" (p. 60)

⁴³S.M. "The Skelligs." Kerry Archaeological Magazine 2.11 (1913): 170-71.
Another article provides further detail: "Say that one Paddy Leary had dallied unduly before taking his mate: the party, holding a rope, would watch for his approach, and then divide, and half would go one way, the rest on the other side round their victim, to wind him in the rope. Meanwhile a song would be improvised, to the effect that 'Paddy Leary is an old man and ought to be married,' setting forth the merits and demerits of the accused, his worldly possessions, and the reasons why he ought to marry. This in rough rhyme would be chanted, and the doggerel sent round to the neighbours that they might sing and laugh him into matrimony." (Moutray Read, D.H. "Some Characteristics of Irish Folklore." Folklore 27.3 (1916): 265-67.)
John Windele described the Shrove Tuesday practice as a "kind of carnival:" "The approach of this period was heralded for weeks by the noisy and incessant announcement of Bays and Hawkers and Venders of Ballads through the streets of Printed lists for sale of 'all the dashing young ladies and sporting young gentlemen' who were to go together to Skellig on the above-mentioned Shrove Tuesday evening. The composition of these Skellig lists in doggerel rhyme was generally of the lowest character often scurrilous and abusive and at other times fulsomely laudatory...All these preparatory announcements were wound up on Shrove Tuesday evening by a tumultous procession or rather rushing through the streets of the whole bachelor population of the lanes and suburban ramifications, and a roaring. noisy and boisterous affair it always was, tattered but buxom wenches formed the larger proportion of these motley and excited gatherings." (Harbison, Peter. "John Windele's Visit to Skellig Michael in 1851." Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 9 (1976): 140-42.)

⁴⁴Lavelle 26-9.
The author concludes: "Skellig Lists...some of them containing up to forty verses - humorous, satirical, vicious - were common throughout Munster from Dingle to Cork for at least the past 140 years, but perhaps it is just as well that the custom has died out recently, or libel actions would be widespread."

⁴⁵McKennitt, Loreena. "Skellig." The Book of Secrets. Quinlan Road Ltd., 2004. CD.