Village of Tory

Tory is a small island to the north of county Donegal. It is a 45 minute ferry ride from the Irish mainland and it is probably as isolated as you can imagine. The brutal cold weather in Ireland isolates the people who live here even further. However, it has made them one of the hardiest Irish you will ever meet. Fortunately for me, it wasn’t a cold and miserable day. The sun was out and sky was blue. It was a perfect day for some exploration. After getting out of the port area we immediately entered the village of Tory. You can probably describe it as a one street village since all that matters is one long stretch where most of the establishments and houses are. From the port road we ran into the main road and we are to make a choice of either turning left or right. Turning left will bring us to the lighthouse, while right will bring us to the cliffs. Having seen how amazing the cliffs in Ireland can be, I immediately said right. So to the cliffs it is.

Along the way we passed by what is probably the largest establishment in town, the Tory Island Harbor View Hotel. It was a low rise hotel and this is probably the most happening place in town. I heard that traditional music plays here at night and sure enough some people who came with us on the boat were musicians. I actually wanted to hear them play but we needed to move. We passed by a Catholic church including a cemetery which is commonly seen beside Irish churches. The further we walked along the road the less houses there were. The village seemed to be much smaller than I thought. Surprisingly, there were cars on the island. One could probably walk across the length of the island in 30 minutes. I guess a vehicle will help a lot especially if you are carrying a lot of stuff.

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