Tory Toraigh

The island

Tory is a Gaeltacht, and Toraigh is its only official name; the main dialect spoken there is Ulster Irish^[1]. The 2022 census recorded a population of 141, up from 119 in 2016^[1]. Tor Mór is the island’s highest point^[1].

Legend

In the island’s legends, the Fomorian king Balor of the Evil Eye lived on Tory^[1], and his story is tied to Balor’s Fort and Balor’s Prison on the island’s east side^[2].

Heritage

Colmcille founded a monastery on Tory in the 6th century; it was plundered and destroyed by English troops in 1595^[1].

The island’s Tau cross is believed to date from the 12th century and is one of only two Tau crosses in Ireland^[1]. It is carved from stone not found on the island^[2].

The round tower, An Cloigtheach (“the bell tower”), was built in the 6th or 7th century^[1]. It is the only round tower still standing in County Donegal^[2].

The painters of Tory

Since the 1950s the island has been home to a small community of artists, and it has its own gallery^[1]. The English painter Derek Hill, who kept a painting hut on Tory for years, mentored that community and taught local fishermen to paint; from this grew the informal “Tory School”, among them James Dixon and Anton Meenan^[3]. Patsy Dan Rodgers was a painter of the island too^[1].

The Kings of Tory

The King of Tory (Rí Thoraí) is a customary title^[1]. Its history reaches back to at least the 6th century, though there is little documentation of earlier kings; it has been suggested that some of the prehistoric kings included Conand and Balor^[4].

In the 19th century the Heggerty, Heraghty or Herrity family supplied the kings. Paddy Heggarty was another king before the Rodgers. Kings were required to be of the brehon class and to be literate^[4]. The role is no longer hereditary^[4]; in keeping with a long-standing tradition, the king is chosen by consensus of the islanders^[1].

The role usually entails being a representative for the island to outsiders; in 1995 it was reported that the king of the day personally greeted every incoming ferry from the mainland^[4].

Patsy Dan Rodgers

Patsy Dan Rodgers (Patsaí Dan Mac Ruaidhrí) was born in Dublin in 1944 and came to Tory as a four-year-old^[5]. He became King of Tory in 1993, according to Wikipedia^[4]; the Irish Times records that he became king in the 1990s, after the family of the previous king, Padraig Óg Rodgers, asked him to succeed their father^[5].

A painter and musician^[4], he often met visitors as they arrived on the island, and his last exhibition marked his fiftieth year as an artist^[5]. He died on 19 October 2018^[1], aged 74^[5]. President Michael D. Higgins remembered him as an “advocate for Ireland’s island communities”^[5].

Sources report that the title has been vacant since his death^[4][2].