Safety on Skellig Michael
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Wednesday March 10 2010
Sir, I would like to urge those responsible at the Office of Public Works to reconsider the erection of a safety barrier/handrail at Skellig Michael following the recent deaths of two tourists who fell at the steep pathway.
The official view so far has been that putting up handrails and the like would take away from the integrity of the site. The first question that comes to mind here is whether safety at a prime tourist site is important and to what degree. The place clearly presents more dangers than any other monument in state care in the country. Should access be restricted perhaps to only young, fit mountaineers and only in dry weather?
I believe there's little enough documented evidence of the lives (and deaths) of the monks in the little beehive cells at the top of the rock. What makes us so certain that the monks all those years ago were themselves putting up with such a hazardous climb between the quay and the top, especially in wet and windy weather? Were they bound to accept a certain amount 'natural wastage' of some not so sure-footed elderly brethren or clumsy anchorites who were blown off or slipped at the endless stone stairway?
I have a feeling that these hardy, diligent monks were no fools. They may have sought a private world of prayer and solitude, but given the elaborate craftmanship of their buildings â?“ and the stairway â?“ I cannot imagine they would have left their own safety to chance.
Would it be unreasonable to assume that there is a likelihood that perhaps the steep path was already equipped with a simple handrail on one side? The technology of the time would easily have allowed for a very basic set of bogwood poles along which a súgán rope was suspended. Certainly, this is only a guess, and its existence cannot be proven or disproven (until a search is made for postholes in the area).
I wonder could this conjecture form the basis of a new look at the situation and hopefully get something done before the tourist season starts again. Providing a cheap, natural-looking safety barrier of this type would produce a considerable increase in safety, whilst keeping the overall look of the rock aesthetically undisturbed.
Sincerely,
John Loesberg, Muckross, Killarney.
