{"id":510685,"date":"2026-06-21T06:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T06:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/510685\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T06:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T06:13:13","slug":"photographer-eric-luke-brings-irelands-most-remote-inhabited-island-to-life-in-new-book-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/510685\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographer Eric Luke brings Ireland\u2019s most remote inhabited island to life in new book \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">When a mentor recommended to Eric Luke in 1977 that he should go to Tory Island, he did not expect that Ireland\u2019s most remote inhabited island would become such a rich source of inspiration. The island \u2013 located 11km off the north-west coast of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/donegal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/donegal\/\">Donegal<\/a> \u2013 is the catalyst and focus of his new book, Toraigh\/Tory Island.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">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. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThere wasn\u2019t any ferry service or anything like that, but one could always get in on a fishing boat,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was the only way in and the only way out.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">So he sat on the turf-laden boat as they sailed towards the remote community. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">When the weather turned on Tory, there was no getting away from the place. Luke  has been forced to stay \u201cas a guest in a cottage for many days while waiting for weather to clear and a boat to take me back to the mainland\u201d. He adds that \u201cthe island was regularly cut off due to bad weather\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Luke has been to the island \u201ccountless times\u201d. He tends to go there late in the year when he is the \u201conly outsider\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/author\/diarmaid-ferriter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/author\/diarmaid-ferriter\/\">Diarmaid Ferriter<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The book will be launched on Wednesday, June 24th. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Boats filled with turf for winter fuel arriving with passengers to Tory Island in the 1970s. Photograph: Eric Luke\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/LMFLYLAFMJHN3IZHUUCZHO3QUM.JPG\"   width=\"800\" height=\"600\"\/>Boats filled with turf for winter fuel arriving with passengers to Tory Island in the 1970s. Photograph: Eric Luke <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"P&#xF3;l Mac Ruaidhr&#xED; outside his house at West Town, Tory Island. Photograph: Eric Luke\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ZTSLHZI35BF4VCU5E3IU7CEJSI.JPG\"   width=\"800\" height=\"581\"\/>P\u00f3l Mac Ruaidhr\u00ed outside his house at West Town, Tory Island. Photograph: Eric Luke <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"The King of Tory Island, Patsy Dan Rodgers. who died in 2018. Photograph: Eric Luke\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/RVCHE6EBCJFO3BGDHJTP34SEOY.JPG\"   width=\"800\" height=\"1066\"\/>The King of Tory Island, Patsy Dan Rodgers. who died in 2018. Photograph: Eric Luke <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Maighread Nic Ruaidhraidh with Frances, Gerry, Jeanette and Tina Rodgers on Tory Island in 1977. Photograph: Eric Luke\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5PKOEYP7CBGM7AS3B6VXFF3XCU.JPG\"   width=\"800\" height=\"600\"\/>Maighread Nic Ruaidhraidh with Frances, Gerry, Jeanette and Tina Rodgers on Tory Island in 1977. Photograph: Eric Luke <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Mary Denis baking bread in the kitchen of her cottage at West Town, Tory Island, in 1977. Photograph: Eric Luke\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/L3KOFPQ5MJBTLHRO3BEI47PFP4.JPG\"   width=\"800\" height=\"600\"\/>Mary Denis baking bread in the kitchen of her cottage at West Town, Tory Island, in 1977. Photograph: Eric Luke <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Children playing at West Town on Tory Island in the late 1970s. Photograph: Eric Luke\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/J277VSF3TVDYRAN5ZAPA2CMW2U.JPG\"   width=\"800\" height=\"600\"\/>Children playing at West Town on Tory Island in the late 1970s. Photograph: Eric Luke <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Fr Boyle blessing graves of Tory Island parishioners in 2023. Photograph: Eric Luke\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/H6YL37IFGFCDXJKOKGMV6VHAAQ.JPG\"   width=\"800\" height=\"529\"\/>Fr Boyle blessing graves of Tory Island parishioners in 2023. Photograph: Eric Luke <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a mentor recommended to Eric Luke in 1977 that he should go to Tory Island, he did&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1485,61,60,43,976],"class_list":["post-510685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-donegal","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-weekendreview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}