Valentia Island was as close as Shelly and Roy got to the Skelligs. They visited
the
Skellig Experience
Center and the
Valentia Slate Quarry on the Skellig Ring.
But there were no puffins.
The two faint islands in the first picture are Little Skellig and Skellig Michael.
Valentia slate was at one time some of the most-sought-after slate in Europe. It was used to roof the
Paris Opera House and in many buildings in London. At the quarry, there's an open mine and a tunnel mine.
Above the tunnel, there is a Virgin Mary
shrine in honor of miners killed in accidents. The stream of water is pumped up via a hose you can faintly
see in the high-res picture.
Valentia's roads were also lined with fuchsias.
The little wagon we drove all around Ireland in. Manual transmission (left-handed shift). Fully insured.
Note the relationship of width of car to width of road!