We don't mind the silence, though. Murphy has been focused on more serious business: navigating the choppy Atlantic waters off Ireland's southwest coast en route to the Skellig Islands, eight miles west of Kerry's Iveragh Peninsula. The larger of these two remote islands, Skellig Michael, guards the remains of a sixth-century early-Christian monastic settlement with an intimidating hand-carved stairwell of more than 600 steps. The twin peaks of Skellig Michael's darker cousin, Small Skellig, soar into the sky like dark Gothic spires, and are home to some 27,000 pairs of white-and-black Northern gannets -- the largest bird colony in Europe -- as well as puffins, kittiwakes, razorbills, and an army of hungry gulls.
''The Skelligs today, is it?" says our innkeeper, Bridie O'Connor, at the Beach Cove B&B in nearby St. Finian's Bay a few hours earlier. We nod, bleary eyed. We haven't adjusted to the time difference yet, but O'Connor's fresh-brewed coffee is helping. ''You'll be wanting the Irish breakfast then," she informs us with a wide smile. ''It's a tough climb." Skellig Michael, we're told, is not for the light-hearted -- or the empty-stomached.
O'Connor has arranged the boat trip to the Skelligs for us, and we're in luck because it's a balmy spring morning with no stormy weather in the forecast. Even in summer, we're told, entire weeks pass when the waters are too choppy to reach the islands. This, of course, makes it difficult to plan a trip to the Skelligs. Many visitors must settle for the nearby Skellig Experience Centre on Valentia Island.
As for Murphy, ''He's a real fisherman," O'Connor says. ''He knows those waters. He'll get you there first." True enough, Murphy is the first to depart from the pier at Portmagee just after 10:30 a.m.
