Tory Island, Co. Donegal

Nine miles off the Donegal coast. Population around 150. The island elects a king, by acclamation rather than vote, a tradition that survives nowhere else in Europe. The role is ceremonial. The king’s job is to greet visitors and represent the island to the outside world. The last king, Patsy Dan Rodgers, was born in Dublin in 1944 and adopted by an island family when he was four. He held the position from the 1990s until his death in 2018. He was a primitive painter, a button accordion player, and was often found on the pier when the ferry arrived. The throne has been vacant since.