Skellig Ring

Branching off the Ring of Kerry, this little-travelled 18km route links Portmagee, Valentia Island and Waterville via a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) area centred on Ballinskelligs (Baile an Sceilg).

The area is wild and beautiful, with the ragged outline of Skellig Michael never far from view. This dramatic island housed a remote monastery between the 6th and 12th centuries and is now an important site for puffins, gannets and guillemots. Its starring role as a location in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi means it hogs the limelight, but elsewhere on the Skellig Ring you'll find historic resorts, colourful houses, walking trails and a history that takes in ancient vertebrates and the transatlantic telegraph.