Journalist Anton McCabe (pictured left) has written a book about The House that Disappeared on Tory Island (Drumkeen Press, 2012), which was launched by former editor of the Irish Daily Star Michael O’Kane. Film-maker Neville Presho bought a house on Tory Island, but it vanished whilst he was abroad. I have written on this blog about the resulting court case. Now Anton McCabe tells the whole sad story. At the launch of the book, he said, “It is a great story and a true testament to … [Presho’s] refusal to give up his fight for justice”.

In advance of the launch, McCabe gave an interview to the Ulster Hearld which explained his involvement in the case:

I had been going to Tory Island for quite a number of years and islanders had told me they were unhappy with what had happened … Going over in the ferry at Easter 2003, I was standing on the prow of the boat when I fell into conversation with another man before I realised he was the householder, Neville Presho. He was surprised I knew so much and had gone through a terrible time by then. Soon after that, which was ten years after the house had been destroyed, things started to happen. …

Neville arrived on Tory Island to find his house was gone. He hasn’t been able to work in over a dozen years and it has destroyed his life. It was a most extraordinary tragedy on a personal level for him. …

Update (2 Jan 2013): By Louise Cullen on BBC NI News:

The tale of the ‘vanishing house’ on Tory Island

The story of how a 150-year old house on an island off the Irish coast simply vanished has become the subject of international fascination, as the owner turned to the courts [judgment here] to find out what had happened to his Tory Island retreat. …

“Older islanders say that my film, An Oileán or Island, was the best film that was ever made on Tory,” said Neville [Presho, pictured above right]. …

Over the years since he discovered the house had vanished, Neville suffered poor mental and physical health. His career ended and his marriage broke up. … But his feelings for the island and its people whom he loved have not changed. …