Love Tory: the ultimate Gaeltacht escape

It’s perhaps one of Ireland’s rarest and most iconic sounds of the bygone countryside life. Cycling along the deserted boreens of Tory Island, a sudden, rasping 'kreek, kreek' sounds across the evening summer air, drawing my bike to an abrupt jam. Could I be about to catch a vocal display from Ireland’s most elusive bird, the legendary corncrake? I may have been flung 45 minutes from the Donegal mainland, but I still had enough gusto in my mobile signal to harness a quick Youtube video of the bird. 

And, sure enough, comparing the footage with the live version across the hay meadows, it was a match. I’d travelled all the way to Ireland’s most remote inhabited island, with a distant hope of hearing the corncrake, and a just few minutes into the trip, my dream was right on song.

I’d travelled to Tory (aka Toraigh) on a bit of a whim. As one of the country’s most vibrant outposts of both culture and nature, the island had always been on my staycation wish-list. So, after a last-minute accommodation option on the island cropped up, coinciding with one of the most spectacular weather forecasts of the year, even that seven-hour drive (one way) from wasn’t going to deter me. 

Tory itself is reachable via passenger ferry from the stunning mainland beach of Magheraroarty, about 20km north of Gweedore. And after an early bird, but not unearthly start, I made the 4pm crossing with ease — even with enough time for a to-go coffee (and all the local scoop) from the Cíocras food truck by the pier.

Off I skimmed aboard the Queen of Aran with the island, just 5km long, soon appearing in the distance like a sleeping giant. Ostán Thoraí, the island’s only (yet sizable) hotel is my base for the night and it sits within a quick suitcase rumble from the island’s harbour. As interest grows in nature, conservation and native wildlife the corncrakes have proved an unlikely tourism draw to the island over the years and are rightly revered on the island. The bird is the hotel’s symbol, the hotel features a birdwatching page on their website and trad sessions in honour of the bird are even hosted at the hotel.

A seafood dish at Ostán Toraigh

After dropping my bags, it didn’t take long before that moment of experiencing the bird in person. Gone from across virtually the whole of Ireland with the advent of industrialised farming, Tory Island is now said to be home to 20% of Ireland’s numbers, giving it the eco-appealing moniker of the corncrake capital of Ireland. 

For the casual birder, it all means that they're in surprising ear-shot across the island; where males, defending their territory, shriek back and forth across the meadows with a bolshy regularity. I’d grown up hearing about the corncrake (despite never actually hearing it) so encountering one is an absolute thrill and they soon became a soundtrack to my island stay, providing my good night and wake up call come dusk and dawn — they fortunately don’t quite reach rooster decibels.

Beyond the corncrake, Toraigh makes a beguiling destination for nature, culture and outdoors enthusiasts (particularly when that aimsir plays ball). The island’s population of 120 people is scattered around a string of townlands, largely negotiable by easy meandering, though you can also rent bikes to zip around. Beyond the hotel, Tory’s main social hub is An Club, which has almost a Greek tavern feel on a scorching summer’s day — just replace the bouzouki with the sounds of country and blues music and Greek with the pretty omniscient sound of Ulster Irish. 

I also discovered a host of fauna wonders on the island from puffins, greylag geese and gannets, to a grey seal peeking at me while swimming; I even met a camper who was kayaking and encountered two orcas that very day.

Among the island’s several, largely abandoned beaches, the most scenic spot I find is Port an Dúin — a horseshoe cove, sheltered by cliffs, where kelp-rich shores eventually yield to clear turquoise waters which offer a surprising blás of Bermuda. The island’s northern shore is also dominated by spectacular, and dizzying cliffs lead from an Eochair Mhór — a breath-taking sea ridge shaped like a giant key, towards Tory Island Lighthouse on the westernmost tip, which cuts a dramatic silhouette towards more distant lands.

“Next stop, Iceland”, as they say. But with sights like these, you’d be more than happy to fan anseo.

Get there: I stayed at Óstán Thoraí for €75 per night, including a very fine breakfast, while return rates for the ferry cost €25 return.