THE TORY ISLANDERS
     A People of the Celtic Fringe

Paperback: 210 pages
Publisher: (Original: Cambridge University Press, 1978)
     Current: Notre Dame University Press, 1995)
     (With new preface by the author.)
www.nd.edu/~undpress

ISBN: 0-168-01890-1 Buy this book at Amazon.com

This is my personal favorite of all my books. The Tory people are amazing! And still there! This description is from the book jacket:

     The Tory Islanders, an established classic of anthropological writing and analysis, is an account of a unique people: a group of Gaelic-speaking islanders located nine miles off the coast of Donegal in the extreme northwest of Ireland. Their roots go back to pre-Christian Ireland, and in their isolation they have maintained ways of life that have disappeared on the mainland and the rest of Europe. Perhaps in no other place is the archaic structure of the peasantry so well preserved – not unchanged, but ingeniously adapted to fit old customs to new uses. The book describes their history, legends, demography, genealogies, kinship, land tenure, boat crews, and household and marriage arrangements (where it was customary for many husbands and wives not to live in the same house.) In addition, Robin Fox conveys the spirit and humor of the islanders, which, he claims, represent a continuing hymn to the human capacity to survive and adapt. The author has written a new preface specially for this edition.

"An absorbing account of the ways in which a folk people adjust to the natural setting, to each other, and to impingements from the outside." Solon T. Kimball, American Anthropologist

"Fox's elegantly written account of Tory Island social structure should be of interest to scholars in many fields, and will doubtless be a focus of particular attention to Irish studies for some time to come." Lawrence J. Taylor, Ethnology

"Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the book is the strikingly humane and appreciative nature of the Tory people it presents… A book well worth reading, whether you are an anthropologist or not." Ruth Finnegan, Heythrop Journal