The Big Key
An Eochair Mhór means ‘the Big Key’, and the name is doing real work: it’s a long, steep-sided rock spur on the east side of Tory Island, lined with jagged pinnacles that give the ridge the toothed profile of a key laid flat. It runs out to a crag the islanders call An Tor Mór (the Big Rock, sometimes the Big Tower). The pinnacles have their own name – Saighdiúirí Bhaloir, Balor’s soldiers – which is the first hint that on Tory the geology and the mythology are the same conversation.
This is the island’s best stretch of cliff scenery, and it costs nothing to see. The official advice is the honest kind: admire it in clear weather, and don’t go near the edge. There are no railings, no marked viewpoint and no fencing of any sort, the ground falls away fast, and the wind here can shove you. That’s the one caveat worth taking seriously before anything about ferries or footwear.
Balor’s island
Tory was said to be the stronghold of Balor of the Evil Eye, a Fomorian giant whose single eye unleashed fire when it opened. The pinnacles along the spur are imagined as his stone sentries, set to watch the eastern approach. The fuller story – Balor locking away his daughter Ethnea to dodge a prophecy, her son Lugh growing up to kill him anyway – runs through Ireland’s oldest myth cycle, and Tory is where it’s anchored. Balor’s fort, Dún Bhaloir, sits on the headland nearby; pairing the two makes more sense than seeing either alone.
There’s a quieter tradition too, of a flat-topped wishing stone near the cliffs that’s said to grant a wish to anyone bold enough to step onto it. Treat that as folklore rather than a fixed landmark to hunt down.
Wildlife
The cliffs are a seabird city in summer: puffins, razorbills, guillemots and kittiwakes nest on the ledges, busiest from May into July. The island is also one of Ireland’s last strongholds for the corncrake, the rasping, secretive bird that has all but vanished from the mainland. You’re far more likely to hear it from the meadows than to see it.
Getting there
Tory has no airport and the ferry doesn’t carry cars, so plan to arrive and travel on foot. The crossing runs from Magheroarty Pier and takes about 45 minutes on a boat that holds up to 70 passengers. Sailings operate year-round but are strictly weather-dependent – Atlantic swell delays or cancels them, sometimes at short notice – so build slack into any day trip and check before you set out. In summer the boat fills, so book ahead.
Once you land, everything is walkable, and a marked loop links An Eochair Mhór with the island’s other landmarks: the round tower stump, the rare Tau cross (one of only two left in Ireland), and the lighthouse at the western end. East Town and West Town hold the shop, a café or two and the island hotel. Mobile signal is patchy; download an offline map before you travel.
What to bring
Sturdy boots with grip – the path is uneven and exposed – plus windproof and waterproof layers in any season. Card payment can be unreliable on the island, so carry some cash. The terrain rules out wheelchairs and pushchairs.
If you only do one thing on Tory beyond the village, make it the walk out toward the Big Key on a clear afternoon, when the low Atlantic light rakes across the spur and you can pick out the soldiers one by one. Just keep well back from that edge.