On my trek across Arranmore Island (see a previous post), I could see a light blinking, far to the north, past Bloody Foreland. This is the light on Tory Island, although the island itself was not visible.Indeed, for the first fifteen minutes of the 50 minute boat crossing from Magheroarty, the island was still not visible, though it was obvious we were heading for the light. Traveller beware! The boat crossing was one of the stormiest I have experienced, particularly the nearer you get to the island. Worse still, it cost 26 euro.
There is a tarmac track from the pier in West Town (approx 30 houses, and much bigger than the 10 houses in East Town) out to the lighthouse. In retrospect it seems amazing that I managed to miss it. The main road towards the west actually changes into a grass track which I soon found, ends in a bog. It was only by picking my way very carefully out of this, at the expense of soaked feet, that I discovered the tarmac track!
The distance, despite other sources, from the ferry to the light is about one mile, not the 2.5 miles I had been bracing myself for. Located on the western tip of the island, the lighthouse was erected in 1832.
Below, the light on West Town pier.
Hi Pete. I've just discovered your interesting blog. I've been sailing in Ireland in 1993, and now I'm using my own blog to describe that aventure. At that time, we landed in Tory Island for an afternoon. I will apreciate your comments and pictures :-)
ReplyDeleteRead you again. By the way, if you don't read spanish you can use the Google traductor in the upper right side: not very accurate, but better than nothing. Cheers.