Sceilg Mhichil is an out­stand­ing, and in many respects unique, exam­ple of an ear­ly reli­gious set­tle­ment delib­er­ate­ly sit­ed on a pyra­mi­dal rock in the ocean, pre­served because of a remark­able envi­ron­ment. It illus­trates, as no oth­er prop­er­ty can, the extremes of a Chris­t­ian monas­ti­cism char­ac­ter­iz­ing much of North Africa, the Near East, and Europe.