The force meets the kittiwake

Skellig Michael, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Early Christian monastic outpost off County Kerry, Ireland, became a focal point for negotiations between the Star Wars production team, the Irish Film Board (IFB), and the Office of Public Works regarding its use as a filming location. The study examines how discourses of Celticism, spirituality, and peripherality influenced this decision, with emails from Naoise Barry revealing early advocacy for access to the islands by location scouts starting in 2013. While the research does not present new scientific discoveries about Skellig Michael's ecological or historical significance, it provides insight into the intersection of tourism, cultural heritage, and film production in a sensitive World Heritage Site context.

Barton, R. (2018). The force meets the kittiwake. The Routledge Handbook of Popular Culture and Tourism, 300–310. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315559018-27