Skellig Testament

by David Rory O'Neill

This story is an attempt to understand what drove men to build a monastery on a near vertical pillar of rock off the coast of Ireland. The author has sought to use imagination to bring to life the men who were driven to seek this kind of complete isolation. More than hermits, more than any other monks, they chose a life filled with hardship, back-breaking labour and danger. Those results of their efforts that remain are among the best preserved buildings from the period. The Skellig monastery is a world heritage site and rightly so. It is unique and a thrilling place to visit. Even if you don’t feel up to the massive climb and a sea-tossed journey by boat, you can still get a feel for the place in the visitor centre at Valencia.

98 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2014

About the author

Born and raised in Belfast until troubles and tribal violence drove him away, David grew to be a non-conformist wanderer. He found peace and his true calling as a storyteller in the Irish tradition and now lives in a vast art and book filled house on the side of the Galtee mountains in Ireland. Beloved-Brigitte and a cat with issues called Bobby, share his life here. David Rory O'Neill has written fourteen novels and more are bubbling and brewing.

Reviews

[Marcia Noren · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspired journey into the cusp of early seventh-century Ireland, this novella is also a finely researched work of historical fiction. The boy who would become Brother Edan tells the story of his days on earth, and how he was pulled by an internal force as strong as the sea to lead a monastic life of isolation on the small craggy isle of Skellig, off the south-west tip of county Kerry. The book is enhanced by photographs of Skellig, its topography and the well preserved cells where this colony of monks persevered through turbulent perils brought by the climate's harsh elements and by brutal attacks launched against them by Norse invaders. Determined to survive against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the inhabitants of Skellig Island met and overcame life-challenges that defy contemporary imagination. David Rory O'Neill's fertile mind and skill with language provides the bridge that took me into the intense reality of that time and place. I highly recommend this volume to anyone who seeks to understand the inner motivations that drove Skellig's monastic pioneers to carve out and preserve their community.

[David O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

My work so no review here.
On sale at the Skellig Experience Visitor Center on Valencia Island.
And on Amazon and Createspace.