Former manager has misgivings about using the historic site for commercial filming, says Noel Baker.

A new book collects the writings and lore on the famous Kerry islands and surrounding area by a man who lived most of his life in Ballinskelligs, says Marjorie Brennan.

For sheer unadulterated exhilaration, it is hard to beat a boat excursion to the Bull Rock off Dursey Island, Co Cork.

The opening of Skellig Michael in Kerry for the summer season has been deferred by the Office of Public Works (OPW), the Government agency responsible for its upkeep and for the running of all national monuments.

If I handed you a list of the top 10 things to do in Ireland before you die, how many do you reckon you could tick off?

When a giant stained glass window was unveiled last week opposite Belfast City Hall, the installation marked the start of a new campaign to showcase the North as the ‘Game of Thrones Territory’ to the millions of fans of the television series around the world.

Abbey Island can be reached in just a few steps across the beach at Derrynane, Co Kerry.

The charming village of Portmagee, Co Kerry, is known as the gateway to the Skellig islands and it hosts tens of thousands of people annually who take the 45-minute boat trip to the Unesco world heritage site.

Applications have opened for commercial permits to operate boats to Skellig Michael, the World Heritage sixth-century monastic site off the coast of Kerry, made more famous globally by the movie series Star Wars.

Cork County Council has been told to prepare plans to get a number of harbour forts, Martello towers, and what was once the largest gunpowder factory in the world added to Unesco’s world heritage status list.

There were times during Joey Carbery’s explanation of his decision to leave Leinster when you wondered whether the gifted fly-half had lost his grasp of geography.

Skellig Michael will remain closed to visitors for at least another three weeks, meaning the island made famous by Star Wars could be facing its shortest-ever tourist season.

Missing out on Ed Sheeran in Páirc Uí Chaoimh? Not to worry, Ciara McDonnell has plenty of options for the May bank holiday weekend.

Forts and Martello towers dotted around Cork Harbour and what was once the biggest gunpowder factory in the British empire could soon be designated as Unesco World Heritage sites.

The Beast from the East brought an unexpected gift; a brambling turned up in the mist net in my back-garden.

IT’S commonplace nowadays to hear concerns about the impact of large numbers of visitors on wild places, writes Donal Hickey.

Suitable land is being sought to provide a third car park in a Kerry harbour village, the main departure point for Skellig Michael, which features in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Despite the Brexit threat and our corporate tax structure facing challenges, one Irish industry has begun 2018 with a decidedly optimistic fanfare.

Imagine celebrating Ireland’s national apostle, not in March, but in high summer.

Canada is taking a lead role in seeking Unesco World Heritage status for a residential Irish island.

Tourism Ireland sent an ad to a galaxy far, far away!

Many of us tend to idealise life beside the ocean and imagine balmy summer evenings with the sea gently lapping nearby and a glorious sunset emblazoned on the sky, writes Dan MacCarthy.

‘Traffic bottlenecks’ are developing on the Wild Atlantic Way tourist route in peak season. Fáilte Ireland has said long delays and capacity issues are “negatively affecting the visitor experience”, according to an internal brief.

Road trip, part one: Last weekend, my husband and I took off on a day trip. Up the west coast on a whim we went, following what felt like the road to freedom in warm, balmy air, returning 10 hours later, our minds as smooth and untroubled as freshly laid eggs.

Tourism is one of the industries that contribute significantly to our economy, so we should be aware of trends in the wider world of tourism, especially those that might represent a threat to the goose that lays the golden egg.

The Office of Public Works is to consider extending the visitor season to Skellig Michael, the Unesco world heritage site in Co Kerry.

Our coastal islands possess fascinating stories but the almost countless islands on Irish lakes have their fair share of stories too: an abandoned hippy colony on Roeillaun in Lough Corrib Co Galway; a round tower sacked by the Vikings on Devenish Island, Co Fermanagh.