Skellig Michael:  Star Wars Shooting Location Controversy

Skellig Michael is the site of a Gaelic Christian monastery that was founded sometime between the 6th and 8th centuries. It was continuously occupied by a small contingent of monks into the 12th century, when it was abandoned, likely due to a change in climate. After changing hands several times, it was eventually perchased in the late 19th century by the current owners, the Office of Public Works (OPW). In 1996, Skellig Michael was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Additionally, the Irish National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) has made the island a Special Protected Area for migratory sea birds, such as puffins and petrels.

OPW just released tourism figures for 2016, and there was a 17% increase in visitors to the tiny island over 2015, largely due to "the Star Wars effect." Almost 14,700 visitors made the trek last year, which is well over the 11,100 annual visitors that was previously set as the max "sustainable" in order to properly preserve the ancient site.

Additionally, OPW raised concerns that the government's granting of permission for Lucasfilm to use the island for filming for The Force Awakens was done so without proper coordination, consultation, vetting, and research. The Irish Film Board was negotiating the use of the island for filming for over a year before OPW was notified, and even then, neither NPSW, nor UNESCO were clued in.

After The Force Awakens filming, the Irish government granted Lucasfilm permission to return to Skellig to film The Last Jedi. This time, the government made an attempt to be more cautious and hired an engineering firm to assess the potential for environmental damage. The NPSW refuted the findings, most notably that filming would not coincide with nesting season. The NPSW eventually agreed to support filming, but recommended 16 conditions.

According to NPSW, 4 of the 16 conditions were not met during filming, as they reported multiple concerns of disruption to migrating and breeding seabirds. Also, a report filed to UNESCO included 2 incidents: an archeological incident in which the entrance to a monk's garden was damaged, and an environmental incident in which paint was spilled on a rock formation. Both were fixed, although there is some dispute as to the long-term impact.

In the end, Ahch-To seems to have been filmed successfully from Lucasfilm's perspective, but time will tell if there was any impactful damage done to the island's archeology and environment, or if tourism is going to have to be ratcheted down to preserve the ancient site.

Sources:

Force strong at Skellig Michael with invasion of Star Wars fans, Irish Independent News, 6/12/17
Concern over 'incidents' during ‘Star Wars’ filming on Skellig Michael, The Irish Times, 2/13/16
Skellig Michael on Wikipedia

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