A local Irish newspaper is reporting that part of the new Star Wars movie will be filmed on the Irish island Skellig Michael…

From Kerryseye:

Filming on the much-anticipated Star Wars 7 commenced earlier this year at locations in Abu Dhabi and in studios in London. Details of the plot, cast and the film locations have been closely guarded, but it’s now certain that the World Heritage island off the Kerry coast will become one of the major film location sites. The Office of Public Works (OPW) confirmed to Kerry’s Eye this week that “Skellig Michael is being made available for a film production shoot on the island… this production is being fully supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Irish Film Board”.

Skellig Michael is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, 11.6 km west of the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. A Christian monastery was founded on the island at some point between the 6th and 8th century, and was continuously occupied until its abandonment in the late 12th century. The remains of this monastery, along with most of the island itself, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1996. (via Wiki)

Some exceptional scenery there. Most likely they will shoot in the monastery. These houses really look like something from the Star Wars Universe.

UPDATE!

Some cool tweets spotted by MagnarTheGreat from the SHH forums:

Cratered beach near #Ballyvaughan #Ireland. I’m told #StarWars will be filming in the area soon becuz of landscape. pic.twitter.com/QKx9Doq57G — WorthPlaying (@worthplaying) July 16, 2014

We had tourist called Kevin on today- was in skellig Michael yesterday-they’re building the #StarWars set! It’s true #thekingdomstrikesback — WILL HANAFIN (@willhanafin) July 24, 2014

UPDATE 2!

Some more bits from Herald.ie:

“Skellig Michael is being made available for a film production shoot which is happening in late July on the island. “OPW will be providing on site support through our staff who are present on the Island throughout the summer, as normal,” an OPW spokesperson told the Herald today. She added: “They will be continuing to manage visitors throughout and will, obviously, continue to safeguard the national monument and the island, which is a world heritage site. While part of the film will be made on the island, it is far from the only connection that Star Wars has with Ireland. Actor Domhnall Gleeson has also landed a role in the highly anticipated film which will be released on December 18, 2015.

Well it’s already late July, so…

UPDATE 3!

Some more info from a local newspaper:

From Independent:

‘STAR WARS’ producers have paid €1,000 in compensation to Skellig Michael boat operators for projected loss of earnings due to next week’s film shoot on the Co Kerry island. They will be unable to bring tourists to the island on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week while the UNESCO World Heritage Site is closed to the public to facilitate filming. It is also understood that most of the boats operating between Skellig Michael and the mainland have been hired to transport the film crew, equipment and those employed to help out with the production, to the island each day. The island, which was a monastic settlement dating back to the 6th Century, has been chosen as one of the locations for the highly anticipated ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’, directed by JJ Abrams . Access is strictly controlled by the Office of Public Works (OPW) which confirmed the island, jutting out of the Atlantic 12 km off the south Kerry coast, had been made available to a film company for shooting. In total, there are only 14 licences issued and each boat is only licensed to land passengers once a day. The maximum number of passengers per boat is 12 and fares vary from €50 to €60.

So obviously it will be a 3 day shoot (July 28-30).