There is a lake in Ireland once regarded as the finest trout water on earth. Anglers came from far and wide to fish it. Fifty years ago, it was poisoned to death’s door by sewage from a nearby town. Since then, it has been slowly, lovingly, nursed back to health by those who care for
Born under a blood red moon, hares fighting fist to fist on fallow field. A wheat coloured sable. I am different to my sisters, gifted with their coats of ebony and dark shades of night blue, but perhaps that is why I was chosen. My first memories were cast in the shadow of flames licking
In memory of my Dad James J. Galvin CHAPTER 1 For me, it all began back in 1942 when I was 4 years old. My Dad would say to me “right hop up on the crossbar of the bike”. He would take me down to the Grand Canal and we would feed the swans, ducks
As a young boy growing up in 1970’s Ireland, at lot of my youth was spend splashing and dipping our toes in the local river that passes through the village of Killeagh in East Cork. The rivers name ‘Dissour’ means ‘twice wetted’, which supposedly meant it had better bleaching qualities than other rivers in earlier
My dad was a plumbing contractor and we lived in a council house in Limerick City. His greatest love was fishing. Looking back, I think there were times he loved fishing more than his family. He had a little rowing boat which he kept at various moorings up and down the majestic river Shannon. During
We knew it was time to pack up and go home, but it was Midsummer’s Eve on the Shannon, and how could we leave? And so we hummed gently upriver from Banagher in that last, long live glow from the West, as a slim, slight moon hung above us -waiting. Engine cut, we drifted in
It would be difficult to imagine any body of water as unique as the Calliagh Berra’s Lough. Its uniqueness stems from the fact that it’s a lake on the summit of a mountain – Slieve Gullion – the highest point in Co Armagh at almost six hundred metres. This fascinating mountain is at the centre
There’s a secret lagoon in northwest Donegal which I’ve recently discovered. Standing on the pier you can see Bloody Foreland, Errigal, Horn Head and Tory Island. So many iconic landmarks surrounding one little bay. Not as famous as its larger neighbours to the east, Lough Swilly, Mulroy and Sheep Haven, Ballyness Bay is just as
When I was growing up on our County Roscommon farm, a half-mile stretch of river formed the mearing between our land and the adjacent townland. We called it, simply, The River, and the section from The Bridge to The Bottoms was a regular haunt for us. The river bed was deep and for most of
Introduction After the formation of the Irish Free State, the Irish Land Commission set about purchasing huge tracks of land that might be offered for sale. The land was for dividing into average small farms – suitable for a family to operate without too much hardship. In most cases, cooperative neighbours eked out a comfortable
The Fergus river rises in the hills between Kilfenora and Kilnaboy, towards the northern part of Co. Clare. Interestingly (if you’re interested in such things) the Fergus catchment lies directly south of the vast karst landscape of the Burren. On a river map of Ireland, this area of North Clare and East Galway looks remarkably
Going back to the early 19SO’s my memory of Dublin Bay is of wide open spaces when the tide went out. We lived in Sandymount and out our front gate across the road, was the beach. In springtime when tides were high, we had great fun dodging waves as they crashed over the wall onto
To use this interactive map, click on a county to view the list of stories connected with it.