Tory Island - Oileán Thoraí

After leaving the town of Donegal we drove north through the county of Donegal.  It is beautiful, rugged and wild.  There is something about it that has the same feel as Wyoming although it doesn't really look the same.

 

We were heading to Magheroarty and the Tory Island Ferry.  When we were looking for places to stay we didn't have anywhere in particular in mind.  We were looking for places outside of town (self-isolation) and near the coast where we could go on nice walks.  We found a lovely cottage on Tory Island.  At first I wasn't sure about going out to the island, but I'm so glad we did.  

View of the Magheroarty beach

The ferry wasn't a big car ferry like the ones we have ridden in Puget Sound.  It was quite a bit smaller which made for a much more bumpy ride.  A storm was predicted for that night so a few fishermen were pulling their boats out of the water.  The wind was picking up on the afternoon we left but we enjoyed the crossing.  My Girl thought the ride through the 6-8 foot seas was almost as good as a roller coaster.  Our host's brother picked us up from the ferry landing and took us to the house.  He is a man of few words and a master of understatement.  In response to the incoming gale he said, "Yup.  It's freshening up a bit."  Technically, a "fresh" breeze are winds 20-24 miles per hour.  A gale is 40+ mph.  That night it rained and blew so hard that it drove water under the front door.  When John asked him if his family had been on the island long he said that people with his family name had been there for at least 500 years.  Yup.  He's a local.

Our towels drying in the fresh breeze.

The neighbors house

Toraigh - Tory

Tory island is off the north east corner of Donegal, the northernmost county of Ireland.  It is as far north as the Aleutian islands of Alaska.  It was late enough in the summer that we didn't get the full effect of the short summer nights.  The island is small, about three miles by 1/2 mile.  In the center of the island is West Town where you can find the main harbor, a small hotel, the shop/post office, and the remains of a 6th century monastery.  The ruined round tower is about all that is left.  The monastery was the center of life for the island for about 1000 years until it was plundered by the English in 1595.  I was surprised to learn that the island had been inhabited for so long.  It is an isolated place where it would be difficult to survive.  There are no trees because of the constant wind.  The rocky soil would make farming extremely difficult.  You could have a few sheep, but I can't imagine growing enough staple food.  People would have lived off the sea, fishing and collecting sea weed.  It is within site of the mainland, so if you are handy with a boat it might not seem that far.

There is also an East town, where we stayed, but calling it a town is a bit of a stretch.  It is about a 20 minute walk from the harbor.  Nice enough when it isn't raining.  East town has fewer than 20 houses widely spread out along two lanes.  There are a surprising number of cars for an island so small.  Cars and other large items are brought over on a barge.  I can understand not wanting to carry all of your good up from the harbor or walk at all in the middle of a winter gale.

It is funny to read tourist reviews of their experience on the island.  I don't know what they were expecting.  There are complaints about the lack of hospitality and the rugged and rustic nature of the island.  Whining that the local "king" didn't greet them at the harbor.  This is a remote place where a few people go about living their lives and a few make a living off the tourists who come during the pleasant summer months.  It isn't Disneyland where every experience is manufactured for your comfort and convenience.

West town

Near the harbor and the round tower is the Tau Cross.  This T-shaped cross dates from about the 12th century.  Following a long tradition, sailors pray before this cross before setting out to sea.  The cross is made of a single piece of mica.  This type of stone is not found on the island so it must have been brought here from somewhere else.  Tau crosses are rare in Ireland.  Only two exist in the country.  This symbol is more common elsewhere including among early Coptic Christians in Egypt.  Some speculate that the seafaring Irish had contact with the Egyptians and adopted this style of cross from them.  

Tau Cross

On our first full day we walked over to the An Club for lunch, but got caught in the rain on the way back.  Fortunately the club owner saw us walking and gave us a ride.  We just said we were staying at Liam's and he knew just where to take us.  At the club we had a nice chat with the club owner.  It is pretty quiet there now.  The club is a restaurant, bar, and community center of sorts.  Typically during the summer there are a lot of tourists and the club books bands from the mainland, but not this year.  On our way home we shared the ferry with the Humble Earthworms, a rock band from Letterkenny that had come over to play Hughie's 30th birthday party.  It must have been quite a party.  They are prepared for all situations.  The club had the now usual health and safety notices, but also had this sign on what to do in the "unlikely even of a musical emergency".  It involves a melodion.

One of the unique things about Tory Island is that it is in the part of Ireland called the Gaeltact, the part of Ireland where Irish is still the primary language.  The Irish language is dwindling, but there are still people who use it daily.  Here on Tory Island we heard it being spoken by a group of young people having lunch at the club.  They switched between English and Irish during their conversation.  We also heard moms were talking to their kids in Irish.  Our host, about our age, told us that he learned Irish as his first language and didn't learn English until he was in school at age 10.  Today Irish is taught in schools, but few people speak it outside of the classroom.  Keeping Irish alive is a point of national pride, but keeping a minority language going is a hard thing to do.  

What we consider modern life was late coming to Tory Island because it is so remote.  Our host told us a bit about his Grandmother's way of life.  She wore shoes that were bits of leather laced around her feet.  His stories reminded me of the exhibits we had seen at the museum of country life.  It wasn't until the 1950s and 60s that electricity came to homes in much of rural Ireland.

Many tourists come to Tory Island to see the sea birds, especially the puffins.  Puffins are an adorable cross between an toucan and a penguin.  They spend most of their life at sea and come to the cliffs of Tory Island and  western Ireland to mate and raise their young during the spring and summer months.  Baby puffins are called pufflings.  Too cute.  Unfortunately, we were too late in the year to see any puffins or pufflings.  Perhaps we will need to make a return trip another year.

On our second day the weather was spectacular.  By the end of the day I had walked nearly 9 miles.  That's a lot of walking on an island that is only 3 miles long.

We started by heading East to the cliffs the island is famous for.  There was a second little cove where boats could have docked.  At the top of the hill was a large old winch that we guessed would have been used to pull boats out of the water.

The easternmost bit of land is a narrow spit of cliffs called the An Eochair Mhór, The Big Key.  The spires are called Balor's soldiers.  Balor is a cyclops-type figure who was chief of the Fomorians in Celtic mythology.  One look from his monstrous eye could turn you to stone.  That's probably where the pillars came from.  Balor's fort is a hill above the cliffs near the Big Key and the highest point on the island. (More about Balor and his heroic murderous grandson here, here, and here.)

Another well known spot on the island is the wishing stone, a stone pillar in the cliffs.  You get a wish granted if you stand on top of the rock.  No thank you.  It's a long way down.  Or if you can toss three rocks onto the top of the stone pillar.

After our second lunch at the Club the kids went home and John and I explored the Western part of the island.  The western point is home to the light house and a small foreigner's cemetery where sailors from wrecked and sunken ships have been buried, including the HMS Wasp wreck in 1884.  We came across a ruined building that didn't look very old.  We were told it was an old radio station from WWII.  Even though Ireland was officially neutral, the British, and through them the Americans, used Tory island as a radio base to contact their North Atlantic naval fleets.

I loved out stay on Tory island.  It was so amazingly beautiful.  Quiet except for the wind and birds.  And a lovely places to spend a few days.