Describing the monastery, he wrote "the scene is one so solemn and so sad that none should enter here but the pilgrim and the penitent. The sense of solitude, the vast heaven above and the sublime monotonous motion of the sea beneath would oppress the spirit, were not that spirit brought into harmony."[53][56] He was less charitable of the lighthouse project and described their alterations as attributed to "the lighthouse workmen who...in 1838, built some objectionable modern walls".[17] The Office of Public Works took the remains of the monastery into guardianship in 1880, before purchasing the island (with the exception of the lighthouses and associated structures) from the Commissioners of Irish Lights.[2][8]