Tory Island Ireland An Baile Thiar
Frequently Asked Questions
By tender, at the pier of West Town, the main village islanders call An Baile Thiar. The crossing from the ship takes only minutes, but the swell decides everything: fifteen kilometres off Donegal, landing is never guaranteed.
A T-shaped cross, carved around the twelfth century from a single block of mica schist, a few steps from the landing. That stone does not occur on the island: it travelled by sea, like everything that arrives here. Ireland has only two of this type, the other at Kilnaboy in County Clare.
Fragments, up the single street of West Town, and a stone round tower still watching over the low roofs of the village. It once sheltered the monks during Viking raids. The monastery was founded in the sixth century by a major figure of Irish Christianity.
Islanders until recently elected their 'king', a spokesman with no crown and no official power, whose role was to welcome arrivals. Patsy Dan Rodgers, the last holder, came to shake the hand of every newcomer on the pier. It is a tradition found nowhere else in Ireland.
Because in the 1950s the English artist Derek Hill set up his easel here and fishermen began to paint in turn. James Dixon, among others, gave this naive painting a reputation reaching far beyond the Donegal coast.
Yes, about 4 km along the single road westward, an easy walk. The lighthouse was built between 1828 and 1832. The bare sheep-grazed heath, the granite outcrops and the Atlantic breaking on either side make the walk worthwhile in itself.
The cliff closing the eastern horizon, about 2 km from the pier, linked to Balor, the one-eyed warrior of Irish mythology. A path leads there, but care is needed near the edges: nothing is fenced and the wind blows hard here.
Irish Gaelic remains the everyday language of the island's hundred-odd residents. Signs, conversation in the café, house names — everything is said in Irish first. This community guards a linguistic heritage the mainland envies.
The Tau Cross and the monastic remains are minutes from the pier. The walk to the lighthouse takes a good two hours there and back; the eastern cliffs somewhat less. Pick one direction: the island is narrow but the wind slows everyone down.
Yes, and often. The swell decides whether the tender can leave the ship. Treat this call as a gift if it happens: fifteen kilometres off Donegal, the Atlantic has the last word.
