We can't wait to see how Star Wars: The Force Awakens incorporates Skellig Michael into the Star Wars universe, after a crew of about 100 finished filming off the Kerry coast just under two weeks ago.
And the crew from the two upcoming Star Wars instalments were quick to ensure locals felt their gratitude for being allowed to film in The Kingdom despite some protests and controversies surrounding minor damage done to the island.
My mate @cdugdog was down at Skellig last week, managed to catch a bit of the Star Wars filming pic.twitter.com/d9425qotvx
— Laurence Mackin (@LaurenceMackin) August 6, 2014
Before departing, the producers of the film donated €10,000 to Valentia Lifeboat services.
Speaking to local newspaper Kerry's Eye, Valentia Lifeboat operations manager Richard Foran said:
It was a complete surprise. But I think the lifeboat came to their minds because of what they were doing.
Mr Foran added that producers with Lucasfilm contacted the 22-strong lifeboat service, which is completely voluntary and non-stare funded, a few days before filming on Skellig Michael wrapped and offered to make a donation.
It wasn’t just talk. The money is in the bank. We suggested setting up a photo shoot on the lifeboat and such, but they declined - they didn’t want any publicity. They simply wanted to make a donation.
Disney Lucasfilm was not charged a fee to film on Skellig Michael - which is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the settlement of 'the first Irish Christians' there - either this year or last year.
The Star Wars filming is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of extra tourists to Ireland according to Failte Ireland. But environmental groups - most notably BirdWatch Ireland - have expressed extreme concern about the project, which has now finally wrapped up.
