A trip to the Skelligs (off the coast of Kerry) is described - as is the singer's musings on the islands.
folk steffan hannigan ber
Story behind the song
A visit to Kerry and my first glimpse of those dark triangular shapes shimering in the sunset ocean.
Lyrics
Skellig Michael
Stood upon the headland – looked out to the ocean
Two black pyramids catching my eye
Molten gold the water shimmered in the sunset
Old Skellig Michael seemed to rise into the sky
Carrying the souls of the seamen who sailed to her
Carrying the souls of her hermits and monks
Carrying the souls of long forgotten lighthouse men
Those who had welcomed her isolation.
Next morning on Valencia, I paid for my passage,
Out to that abandoned, mysterious rock.
Climbed the ancient stairway carved out of the island
Listening to the seabirds interminable mock
Mocking the souls…..
From mist wind and rain those beehive huts sheltered them
Frost, snow and ice, they held out the same.
Cut off from man – at the mercy of the elements
Seeking a truth for which we still have no name
Alone in my mind’s eye I stepped back into history,
Walked the same paths those long dead must have trod
Summoned up their ghosts to tell me of their findings,
Sharing their tears at the mystery of God.
Cry for the souls......
Out at sea a storm was gathering, we had to abandon
Our trip to this isle I shall never forget
As we hurried for the mainland, I caught against the storm’s light
The full brooding power of your dark silhouette.
Dark as the souls….. [Then Middle Eight – Then Repeat Vs 1.]