Years of sediment are slowly cutting a curve of river off from the current. A few centimetres of water still let life flow between the busy stream and stagnating pool. A floating leaf. A twig. A spiny orange Perch. All find their way into the microcosm. Layers of shoulder height hogweed enclose the pool. There
It always starts the same: you’re stressed out at work, or run ragged at home, or nose down in the books or just tired of your own company all day long. You pack your gear bag, or your backpack, or your rucksack, or you just throw everything into the boot. You get yourself ready in
My family lived with Pop at the Mill House which was dwarfed by the mill on the gable end facing our kitchen. We had a beautiful garden, but to the side was an untamed wilderness full of wild rhubarb, wasp’s nests, and badgers, which led directly onto the river. Although we were forbidden to enter
My husband and I decided to sell our house in Dublin and move lock, stock and barrel to rural Ireland. We moved into a rundown cottage in Doonass in Co.Clare in the eighties. Renovations were ongoing which we found difficult at times. As Autumn approached we finally got the chance to explore our local area.
One of my favourite features of my grandparents house in Ireland is the river that flows by the side of it. The beautiful, historic house looks onto the picturesque river scene on one side. With a view prominently from the living room, you are able to spectate the Boyne drifting on. It’s dark, murky waters
The lakeshore of Lough Mask in Tourmakeady was a few fields down behind our house and the rocky shoreline with its Alder trees growing on the banks was a haven for us children seeking adventure as we roamed along it’s shores. It was all of that and more. It was freedom to play, explore and
Lough Gowna is situated in North Longford or South Cavan. It’s a very large lake of 6 miles long and about 3 miles wide, at its widest point. Lough Gowna is a very busy lake as people come from all over the world to fish for pike, trout, perch, bream, hybrids and roach. Lough Gowna
My earliest memory is of when I was four years old and I had got lost down by ‘the river’. Thankfully a man out walking his Alsaitan dog found me and brought me home. It was a pattern of adventure forged at a very young age. I had a happy childhood, often spent playing down
Summertime was a great time for us in 1960s Parnell Square. We rose early and were out of the house and gathered in the square to plan our day which was usually dependent on the weather. Hot Sunny days were spent by the river swimming or if we had the money we’d hire one of
Years ago when I started fishing there wasn’t many about to educate you on the fine art of our great hobby. I had been schooled by an older lad on how to use the float on the canal but not on how weather time of year and most of the other secrets that go into
The Amazon flowed at the bottom of our housing estate. As a young boy this is where I had my first great adventures, on my return as a man many years later I discovered it had shrunk to a babbling brook. Hopping from stone to stone and running along the river bank, I rarely returned
I come from a part of Dublin surrounded by buildings, roads and factories. Amongst, them is a place just down the road from where I grew up. Tolka Valley river, a connection to the royal canal that flows through Finglas on the northside of Dublin. It was where I would take the dog for a