Destinations

Ireland Feels ‘The Force’

Ireland-Dec21

Star Wars mania is even hitting the shores of the Emerald Isle as an island off Ireland’s south west coast is wowing audiences at screenings of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

Unveiled in the film’s closing minutes, this closely guarded secret ending to Episode 7 was filmed in September 2014 on Skellig Michael Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Since 1977, the record-breaking movie franchise has travelled through many galaxies, and this time, director JJ Abrams along with cast and crew jetted into a little village called Portmagee, County Kerry, on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. From here, they travelled 12 km by sea to a dream film location, Skellig Michael.

Locals were told a documentary was being filmed, but were amazed when they realized that Star Wars was being filmed in their community. Gerard Kennedy of The Bridge Bar and Moorings Guesthouse in Portmagee, commented, “It’s been so hard to keep this secret. It was such a weird and wonderful experience for our small village to be part of the Star Wars story. We enjoyed evenings of music and dance in our bar with the cast and crew. Mark Hamill even learned how to pull a pint with our barman, Ciaran Kelly.”

For more background and stories about Star Wars filming on Skellig Michael, visit http://www.ireland.com/starwars.