Skellig Michael, Ireland

At the end of THE FORCE AWAKENS, the first movie of the third Star Wars trilogy and episode 7 of the entire series, Rey (Daisy Ridley) goes in search of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). The young resistance fighter hopes to receive training as a Jedi master from him. Together with Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew/Joonas Suotamo) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), Rey travels in the spaceship Millennium Falcon to the ocean planet Ahch-To.

The Force Awakens, 0:16:36

Luke Skywalker leads a reclusive life on a remote island. This final scene was filmed on Skellig Michael, a twin-pinnacled crag in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) west of mainland Ireland. Instead of creating the planet in a studio with digital effects, director J.J. Abrams preferred to use existing locations, as was done in the original trilogy. The shooting period for the entire film was from 16 May to 3 November 2016.

Besides Ireland, filming took place in Great Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Iceland. Filming on Skellig Michael began on 28 July and would last for three days. The island is uninhabited and open to visitors from May to September, depending on weather conditions. Skellig Michael has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. There are several shipping companies offering boat trips from Portmagee and Coarha More.

Kerry Cliffs, 7 July 2024

The number of visitors is limited to 180 per day so advance booking is essential. We went with The Skellig Experience. This shipping company also has a visitor centre which is worthwhile, unfortunately with no information on Star Wars. There are no facilities on board or on the island but we ordered a packed lunch from O’Connells Foodstore in Portmagee the day before departure. The boat trip takes about an hour.

The day before visiting Skellig Michael, we already saw the island from the Kerry Cliffs. These cliffs are about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Port Magee and offer spectacular ocean views. It is private land but accessible to the public for a fee of € 5 per person. The view of the island is somewhat similar to the scene when the Millennium Falcon arrives. Next to Skellig Michael is the smaller island Little Skellig which cannot be visited.

The Force Awakens, 2:04:38

Skellig islands, 7 July 2024

The boat arrives at the northeast side of the island. As the purple line on the map indicates, visitors walk to the south side and then walk up the stairs. Here is a monastic village founded somewhere between the 6th and the 8th century by a small group of monks. With few food supplies and sometimes harsh weather conditions, they must have led a Spartan's life.

Map Skellig Michael

The monks also constructed the steps that pose a challenge to visitors. The irregular steps are flat stones or carved into the rocks, with no handholds. In the film, Rey walks up on the north side while Chewbacca and R2-D2 stay behind by the spaceship.

The Force Awakens, 2:05:02

Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

As Rey continues her journey upwards, Little Skellig can again be seen in the background. The horizon has been digitally altered.

The Force Awakens, 2:05:34

Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

The film ends with Rey meeting Luke Skywalker. This scene was filmed on Christ's Saddle, a part of the island halfway up the climb. However, the part where actors stand is not open to the public and shielded by a fence.

The Force Awakens, 2:06:02

Christ's Saddle, Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

In THE LAST JEDI, the second movie of the third Star Wars trilogy and episode 8 of the Skywalker Saga, Rey manages to persuade Luke Skywalker to give her three lessons in the ways of the Force. For these scenes, production returned to Skellig Michael for five days.

Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

Since episode 8 continues where episode 7 ends and filming on the island is not an easy undertaking, I was surprised when a guide told me that shooting for both films was not done at the same time. One reason could be that Rian Johnson took over directing from J.J. Abrams. Shooting on Skellig Michael was supposed to start on 14 September 2015 but had to be postponed for a day due to bad weather.

Filming continued on 15 February 2016 and was completed on 22 July. Besides Pinewood Studios in England, there were on-location shoots in Croatia, Iceland, Bolivia and mainland Ireland. Not all scenes set on the island where Luke is hiding were filmed on Skellig Michael. According to the guide, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca never came the island. The monastery village with its beehive-shaped buildings were recreated on the Dingle peninsula.

The Last Jedi, 0:20:44

Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

So the moment when Rey and Luke meet was filmed twice. There was more than a year between the first shot in July 2014 and the second shot in September 2015.

The Last Jedi, 0:14:20

Christ's Saddle, Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

From April to July, thousands of puffins come to Skellig Michael to breed. The birds are not afraid of humans and were easy to photograph. Instead of digitally removing the puffins, Rian Johnson came up with the idea of replacing them with a self-conceived species, the porg. This beakless seabird is native to Ahch-To and was designed by Jake Lunt Davies.

The Last Jedi, 0:15:37

Puffins, Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

Walking up the stairs you soon will pass a rock known as Wailing Woman, seen from the steps it looks indeed like a weeping female. In the film, Rey practices here with Luke's lightsaber who is watching her from a distance. The fourth picture also shows a helipad. The captain who took us to Skellig Michael told us that the film stars came to the island by helicopter, the other members of the film crew came by boat.