A Climate Vulnerability Assessment report on Sceilg Mhichíl has found the site is at risk from threats posed by a changing climate.
These threats include possible damage to the monastic structures on the island as a result of extreme weather.
However, the report also found that measures to address the impacts of climate change - in particular those around rock fall - had helped to reduce the risks.
Sceilg Mhichíl is an island of the coast of Co Kerry and the site of a historic monastic community founded sometime between the sixth and eighth centuries.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said the report was released on Valentia Island this evening to reflect "the importance of local community input into the continued protection of Sceilg Mhichíl".
The study, undertaken throughout 2023 and 2024, involved contributions from both technical experts and the local community.
It found that climate change could lead to the erosion of the island's landscape and have impacts on breeding birds due to higher ocean temperatures.
The report outlines adaptation measures to safeguard the heritage of the site, including education on wildlife and heritage conservation issues for visitors to the island "to create behaviour change and continued access" for those visiting and using Sceilg Mhichíl as an educational tool on climate change impacts and adaptations among other measures.
Minister of State for Heritage, Nature and Biodiversity Christopher O'Sullivan said the report showed State interventions had helped to protect the site.
But he added: "We cannot be complacent, and we will use the findings of this report, working with the community, to ensure the continued protection of this world heritage property and national monument."
The assessment and report was developed by the National Monuments Service and the Office of Public Works in partnership with the National Geographic Society’s Preserving Legacies Project.
Sceilg Mhichíl is one of ten World Heritage Properties selected to be part of the first National Geographic-funded 'Preserving Legacies’ Project, along with other heritage sites such as Petra in Jordan, the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras and Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia.
