Higgins praises last King of Tory

PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins has led tributes to the King of Tory Island, Patsy Dan Rodgers, who has died after a long illness.

Mr Rodgers, 74, pictured, a renowned artist and musician, was surrounded by his family when he died in the Mater Hospital.

President Higgins referred to Mr Rodgers as an ‘advocate for Ireland’s island communities’.

‘His love for Tory Island and its people was evident in his art and his campaigns, and he was an outstanding ambassador for the island in all its welcoming diversity.’

Mr Rodgers was born in 1944 in Dublin’s inner city before he was adopted by his family in Tory Island off the coast of Donegal, at the age of four. He came to love the Irish language and the island’s culture and history, and regularly campaigned for better services for its people.

He became King of Tory in the 1990s when the children of the last king, Padraig Óg Rodgers, asked him to carry on the tradition. During his reign, he welcomed visitors to the island.