'I want to promote the island to give my children a chance to thrive on Tory'

A French woman who calls Tory Island her home has now published her third book.

Saskia Levy-Rodgers was studying Anthropology and Art at the Université de Lyon, which is based in her home city - the second largest in France, after Paris.

Saskia admits to having “always been fascinated by Ireland” although her introduction to Tory came by chance.

One day her grandmother was sitting in a dentist’s waiting room, flicking through a publication called Geo Magazine and came across an article about the secluded island off the north-west coast of Ireland. When Saskia managed to see the piece herself, something clicked inside her.

“The four pages featured Patsy Dan smiling, the lighthouse, and a few other places on the island. I can’t explain the attraction, but strangely enough, those pictures, that place, felt irresistibly familiar to me,"  she tells DonegalLive. I immediately wanted to visit so had to arrange a way to go, so I decided to do my thesis on Tory.”

READ NEXT: Ballyshannon photographer Karen Skelly captures early-morning lunar eclipse

So off Saskia went the following year with her backpack to Tory, where she would find work placement, entrusted with mapping the island, which she would later learn contained 240 placenames despite its relatively small size and a population, last confirmed in 2022, of 141 people.

“Each place name is connected to a story,” Saskia adds. “It was a very interesting work as the placenames can make the history. There are connections through history and painting."

Saskia felt that through Sean-nós - an old Irish term that means '[in the] old way' that can also refer to various other traditional activities, musical and non-musical - the island communicated with the outside world. 

“A song, Nach Fada Mo chosa gan broga (how long are my feet without shoes), has a line ‘Gur chuir mé mo ghlór ina cheann’ which is translated by Until I persuaded her to listen, but it means, Until I put my voice in her head...;’” is an example of a line that added to Saskia’s fascination.

Whilst on Tory, she came across a local man by the name of Michael Oliver Rodgers, meeting firstly for a drink at the local hotel for a chat. For four years, they kept in touch, over and back, before deciding to spend the rest of their lives together. Now husband and wife, they have three children - Shona (12), Sean (10) and Aaron (7) - all of whom are fluent in Irish with their mother encouraging French.

“It’s the most rewarding and motivating job,” she adds of work promoting Tory. “I want to promote the island to give my children a chance to thrive on Tory.

“I struggled to learn English and I can understand Irish, although I don’t have the confidence to speak. It’s an amazing language, when it’s explained to you. It’s extremely deep, perfect for storytelling. It can be haunting, telling the stories in a much deeper and richer meaning."

Saskia has now written three books on Tory, picking up titbits locally from her accumulated understandings, her husband’s and anything else along the way.

The first, S'Tory book: Stories from Tory Island, she describes as “simply a collection of memories from islanders, thoughts, ideas, and hopes put together for Shona, Sean, and Aaron, their friends, and all their potential friends in Ireland and elsewhere.

“I hope that you’ll find many unanswered questions in this book and that you’ll seek out the answers. I also hope that you’ll be fascinated by your own folklore and traditions, that you’ll take a great interest in researching these stories, and that you’ll come to understand their wisdom and secrets.

“I hope you enjoy it, and if you have never visited Tory, I hope you might feel like visiting one day. If you do, please remember to take your litter with you, be nice and courteous, and be very careful with the big seal.”

The second, Dialann Thorai Tory Island Chronicles was initially designed as a web series, created with the support of Pleanáil Thoraí - Tory Island language planning for the Irish language - and Ealaín na Gaeltachta, supporting the arts in the Gaeltacht. The series consists of 12 short two to three-minute episodes, one for each month of the year, before wrapping all in print.

“Islanders and 'famous people' such as Lillis Ó Laoire, Manchán Magan, Seán Keane, and Diane Cannon, to name a few, who are featured in the videos,” Sakai says “I interviewed more people who are not featured in the final videos but whom I will use in other projects. All of them offered great insights, even if not included in the series.

“One of the main aims of this web series was to initiate a trend: let’s flood social media with content as Gaeilge, content in Irish.”

Saskia’s third and latest publication is Words of Gaelic Wisdom - Focail na heagna Gaelaí, which puts “a focus on 22 Irish proverbs. It revisits timeless Irish proverbs to explore their deeper meanings and reveal how their enduring power remains relevant today.

“These ancient sayings are powerful tools to understand life, others and ourselves, guiding us towards happiness. Proverbs and their wisdom are key to gaining insight and good sense earlier than we would through our own experience. Every culture has its proverbs and ways of understanding the world. Irish proverbs are remarkable for their lucidity, craftiness, and resilience.”

Saskia’s collection is available to buy online, including on Amazon, her Facebook, Tory Island Chronicles, by emailing toryislandbook@gmail.com and at Bookmark in Letterkenny.