Church in Sceilg Mhichíl

National Monument No. 61. KE104A-001001- Oratory on S Peak: On the oratory terrace (KE104A001011-), high up on the S side of the South Peak. The siting of this oratory was described in 1990 as 'lying about two hundred meters above the ocean and some fifteen meters below the summit, offers a magnificent view of the seascape east of the island' (Horn et. al. 1990, 39, Fig. 30). The remains of this drystone building, measuring 2.1m wide internally, consist of its SW end-wall, a 2.55m long section of its NW side-wall, and a short stretch of the inner face of the opposite side-wall. The NE end of the structure appears to have collapsed with the subsidence of the terrace revetment wall at this point. The surviving end-wall was built on a low plinth, 0.35m high and 0.25m wide, which continues along the NW side-wall at a higher level. Here it also serves as a pathway at the foot of a natural ledge, with steps cut into it, which ascends the rock-face at the NW side of the terrace. The NW and SW walls of the oratory are preserved to internal heights of 0.95m and 1.2m respectively, and the internal face of the former is corbelled. A doorway, 0.57m in average width, occurs in the surviving end-wall; a pair of threshold slabs survive in situ, and just inside the entrance a long slab, 1m x 0.45m x 1.2m thick, may represent a displaced lintel. The interior of the oratory is infilled with rubble, and outside it at SW a section of the paved surface of the terrace remains in situ (Horn et. al. 1990, 40-2; O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, 288). See attached figures 10, 11, 30, 31, 32 and 39 taken from Horn, W., White Marshall, J. and Rourke, G. 1990 The forgotten hermitage of Skellig Michael and plan of south terrace taken from O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, 282. The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 948. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 28 February 2022

The Church in Sceilg Mhichíl, a 6th- to 7th-century early Christian oratory, is dedicated to St. Michael and is part of a monastic site on a sea stack off the Kerry coast. It is significant as an example of Ireland's early monastic architecture and as a key site in the spread of Christianity in the region.