Valentia Island Heritage Centre

Skellig Ring


Inside the old school on the road towards Geokaun Mountain, this intriguing local museum has a treasure trove of artefacts that tell the tale of the island's history more eloquently than any textbook – from school chemistry sets and slate-quarrying tools to fossils and old photographs, with pride of place going to the Morse key used to test the world's first transatlantic telegraph cable.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Skellig Ring attractions

1. Glanleam House & Gardens

1.07 MILES

Built as a linen mill in the 1770s, this estate was transformed from 1808 when its owner established its 16-hectare gardens with exotic plants from around…

2. Tetrapod Trackway

2.11 MILES

This string of small depressions in an exposed sandstone bedding surface next to the sea may not be as spectacular as dinosaur footprints, but these…

3. Ballycarbery Castle

2.24 MILES

The atmospheric – and decidedly dangerous-looking – ivy-strangled remains of 16th-century Ballycarbery Castle stand amid green pastures 3km northwest of…

4. Geokaun Mountain

2.47 MILES

The local landowner has transformed the island's highest point, Geokaun (266m), into a network of easy walking trails and viewpoints, with a breathtaking…

5. Ring Forts

2.51 MILES

Some 3km northwest of Cahersiveen, two extraordinary stone ring forts situated 600m apart are reached from a shared parking area. Cahergal, the larger and…

6. Old Barracks Heritage Centre

3.43 MILES

Established in response to the Fenian Rising of 1867, the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks at Cahersiveen were built in an eccentric Bavarian-Schloss…

7. Skellig Experience

4 MILES

Immediately across the bridge from Portmagee, this distinctive building with a turf-covered roof contains exhibitions on the life of the Skellig Michael…

8. O'Connell's Birthplace

4.24 MILES

At the bridge across the Carhan River on the eastern edge of town, a neat little memorial park remembers Daniel O'Connell (1775–1847), 'the Great…