Wild seas, turf-filled boats and a traditional way of living are key themes in Toraigh/Tory Island Islanders and fishing boats at the old pier on Tory Island in the 1970s. Photograph: Eric Luke Eric LukeJohn O'ConnorSun Jun 21 2026 - 06:00 • 1 MIN READWhen a mentor recommended to Eric Luke in 1977 that he should go to Tory Island, he did not expect that Ireland’s most remote inhabited island would become such a rich source of inspiration. The island – located 11km off the north-west coast of Donegal – is the catalyst and focus of his new book, Toraigh/Tory Island. While at the pier attempting to get on the island all those years ago, Luke watched turf being loaded onto boats to provide fuel for the island during winter. “There wasn’t any ferry service or anything like that, but one could always get in on a fishing boat,” he says. “It was the only way in and the only way out.” So he sat on the turf-laden boat as they sailed towards the remote community. When the weather turned on Tory, there was no getting away from the place. Luke has been forced to stay “as a guest in a cottage for many days while waiting for weather to clear and a boat to take me back to the mainland”. He adds that “the island was regularly cut off due to bad weather”. Luke has been to the island “countless times”. He tends to go there late in the year when he is the “only outsider”. His new book, Toraigh/Tory Island, documents the island through mostly-analogue photography. It is published by Hi Tone and includes a foreword written by historian Diarmaid Ferriter. The book will be launched on Wednesday, June 24th. Boats filled with turf for winter fuel arriving with passengers to Tory Island in the 1970s. Photograph: Eric Luke Pól Mac Ruaidhrí outside his house at West Town, Tory Island. Photograph: Eric Luke The King of Tory Island, Patsy Dan Rodgers. who died in 2018. Photograph: Eric Luke Maighread Nic Ruaidhraidh with Frances, Gerry, Jeanette and Tina Rodgers on Tory Island in 1977. Photograph: Eric Luke Mary Denis baking bread in the kitchen of her cottage at West Town, Tory Island, in 1977. Photograph: Eric Luke Children playing at West Town on Tory Island in the late 1970s. Photograph: Eric Luke Fr Boyle blessing graves of Tory Island parishioners in 2023. Photograph: Eric Luke IN THIS SECTION