MINISTER FOR Heritage Jimmy Deenihan has moved to meet Unesco concerns about the management of Skellig Michael as a world heritage site by publishing a report on 24 years of excavations at the monastic complex.
The archaeological stratigraphic report covers excavations between 1986 and 2010 on the island off the Kerry coast.
It was published yesterday on foot of a recommendation in a Unesco report of 2007 which was critical of aspects of State management of the seventh-century monastic site.
Mr Deenihan said the information, together with the “results of specialist analyses”, had “thrown new light on the evolution of this spectacular monastery and the lives of the monks who inhabited the island between the seventh and 13th centuries”.
He said it represented the first step in the Skellig Michael publication programme, and said that a series of volumes was planned which would present the final results of the architectural, historical, archaeological and engineering works carried out there.
However, Connemara archaeologist Michael Gibbons, who had first alerted Unesco to his concerns about the Office of Public Works (OPW) conservation policy for Skellig Michael, said the study “addressed none of the key questions” raised with Unesco.
“There is a wealth of new material here, particularly on later excavations, but there is no presentation of evidence of work carried out during the [Charles] Haughey era,” Mr Gibbons claimed.
“In that sense, it is very disappointing.”
Mr Gibbons explained he was referring to non-archaeological work conducted over a seven-year period, which had not been scientifically documented for archaeological purposes.
Some key features had been either constructed or removed at that time, and there was no data on the disappearance of St Michael’s holy well, the removal of an altar from the main oratory and the removal of five sets of staircases from the main monastery, he said.
In its 2007 report, Unesco noted that conservation works had “dramatically” transformed the appearance of remains on the South Peak, but said that they were “justifiable” and the “outstanding universal values” remained intact.
Unesco recommended that a site manager be appointed, that conservation work be documented in an academic publication, and that a “durable agreement” be negotiated with the Skellig ferry operators.
Mr Gibbons said the lack of data on the scale of interventions during the critical seven years of reconstruction meant that “we still don’t know what is imaginary, conjectural or original” at the heritage site.
Skellig Michael made it to the Unesco world heritage list in 1996, and Mr Deenihan paid tribute to the OPW for its management and continued commitment to the project.
Archaeological Stratigraphic Report: Excavations 1986-2010 by E Bourke, AR Hayden and A Lynch can be accessed at
