Tory Island

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

View from Dún Bhaloir

Tory Island (Irish; Oileán Thoraigh or earlier Oileéan Thúr Rí, island of the king's tower), is an island 12 km off the north-west coast of County Donegal, in Ireland. It is approximately 5 km (3 miles) long and 1 km (0.75 miles) wide.

It has a population of 170, divided among four towns — An Baile Thoir [East Town], An Baile Thiar [West Town], An Lár [Middletown] and Úrbaile [Newtown]. It is part of the Donegal Gaeltacht and Ulster Irish is the island's main language.

Since the 1950s, the island has been home to a small community of artists, and has its own art gallery. The English artist Derek Hill is associated with the Tory artist community. One of the artists is Patsaí Dan Mac Ruairí, who holds the position of Rí Thoraí (King of Tory). This King has no formal power, but is chosen by consensus of the islanders to represent the community; Patsy Dan has acted as a king, making the island recognizable through his family and love for art and music.

In the apocryphal history of Ireland, Lebor Gabála Érenn, Tory Island was the site of Conand's Tower, the stronghold of the Fomorians, before they were defeated by the Nemedians in a great battle on the island. The later Fomorian king Balor of the evil eye also lived here. Balor would imprison Ethlinn in a tower built atop Tor Mór [or Túr Mór in ancient Irish, meaning The High Tower].

The British frigate HMS Wasp, sent to collect taxes, was shipwrecked near the lighthouse. 52 of the 58 on board lost their lives on 22 September 1884.

In recent times the island was unprecedentedly involved in the Irish reality television show "Cabin Fever" (13th June, 2003) when the ship on which the contestants were to spend a number of weeks hit rocks off its coast. Locals on the island aided the contestants off the boat and gave them a place to stay until the replacement boat arrived.

The island is well known for its great monuments, including the central tower, rare intact Tau Cross and the site of Tory Castle.

1 Flora and Fauna
- 1.1 Flora
2 Geographical statistics
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Flora and Fauna

Ancient records of the flora and fauna of this island can be found in Hyndman's notes on the history of the island.^[1]

[edit] Flora

Algae:- Fucus vesiculosus, Fucus nodosus, Himanthalia lorea, Laminaria digitata, Rhodomenia laciniata, Plocamium coccineum, Ptilota plumosa, Conferva rupestrus, Codium tomtntosum, Codium adhaerens det Dr Harvey.