Book excerpt: In the summer of 2000, Catherine Merrigan took a rough boat ride out to the rocky island of Skellig Michael off the coast of County Kerry to begin her new job as a guide. Almost alone on the dark and mystical island that first night, she realised she'd made a big mistake and decided she would leave the next morning. A massive storm blew up though and she couldn't leave for five days; whereupon, in fact, she stayed. Catherine has spent six months of every year since showing visitors this magical isle, and hanging out with her beloved puffins - 10,000 breeding pairs which she likes to say she counts every night, by name. Here is a one of a kind insight into life on this dramatically beautiful, monastic sanctuary, laden with a millennium and a half of some of Ireland's richest history, and in the company of a hundred thousand nesting birds. Told with love and passion, Catherine's anecdotes are interspersed with her photos of 'Charlie Chaplin' puffins, Skellig's dramatic staircases, and much more.