Irish heritage conservationists fear that a rugged island off the country's southwest coast could lose its prestigious Unesco listing because of a spike in visitor numbers, after scenes from Star Wars: The Last Jedi were shot there.

An Taisce, Ireland’s national trust, is seeking government intervention over Skellig Michael, the site of an ancient monastic settlement described as “Ireland’s Machu Picchu” by National Geographic, but which the trust believes has undergone a "commercial re-branding” after being “swamped” by the Star Wars connection.

An Taisce also fears that a spike in film-buff visitors could result in the site being damaged and see Unesco, the UN’s cultural wing, remove Skellig Michael from its 1073-item World Heritage List, which includes Stonehenge, the Tower of London, the Grand Canyon, Jerusalem’s Old City, Auschwitz Birkenau and the Great Barrier Reef.

An Taisce heritage officer Ian Lumley said that the reason for the Unesco designation was because of the significance of the early Christian monastic site.

"[Star Wars] brought about a re-branding, a change in the image and perception of the site. Every time the word Skellig is mentioned... that branding of the Disney franchise is now inextricably entangled with it," he told The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk.