This article is from page 57 of the 2011-06-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 57 JPG
WHILE MUCH has changed in Clare over the last 50 years there is much too that remains the same – the waves still crash headlong onto the north Clare coast, the fresh sea air still has the power to both revive and restore and the fish still bite best from the rocks off Blackhead in Fanore.
Later this week hundreds of current and past members of the Lisdoonvarna/Fanore Sea Angling will descend on O’Donohue’s Pub in Fanore to celebrate the 50 anniversary of one of Clare oldest angling clubs. Old trophies, pictures and newspapers articles will all be on show for the event, which takes place this Sunday, June 12, while an open-day for young and new members will also take place.
The club was founded in 1961 when a group of local Fanore men travelled to Lahinch to take part in an angling competition. The men soon realised that they had walked past some of the best fishing spots in the country to get to Lahinch and decided to set up their own angling clubs to fish the north Clare coast.
“There would have been some mackerel fishing and some rock fishing going on in the area at the time but there was no organised angling and certainly no competition taking place. Surprisingly there wasn’t really much fishing going on locally,” says James Linnane of the Lisdoonvarna/Fanore Sea Angling Club.
“Some individuals would fish for bass along the beach and there was Jack Shine from Liscannor who could catch sharks from the shores so there was interest in fishing locally – just no club to bring it all together.”
Indeed, the late Jack Shine, who was the creamery manager in Moy for many year, is generally credited as being the first man to introduce the fishing rod into the north Clare area. Jack is still the only man in Ireland who has successfully caught porbeagle sharks from the shoreline.
The club was founded in Lisdoonvarna in 1961 with Ennistymon man Don Curtin as it’s first president with Pete Commane from Liscannor as Chairman, Padriac Kett from Fanore as vice-chairman, Jimmy Carrucan from Fanore as treasurer and John Cullinan from Lisdoonvarna as secretary.
The open day will run from 2pm to 6pm in Fanore and will give a chance for older members to remember the past while allowing younger people to get their first taste of angling.
“We will have an exhibition of all the trophies and cups donated to the club going down the years as well as a list of everyone who won a com- petition with the club over the years. We also have some great photos of the club and Fanore from back in the 1960 – which will show what life was life for the people when the club was founded,” continued James.
“We will also be trying to encourage more people, especially juveniles, into the club so we will be having a number of angler there who will host a juvenile day on the beach while we will supply reels and roads for them. North Clare is one of the best finishing grounds in Europe at the moment so we might as well use them as well as protect them.”
For more information on the club contact James at 087 2215159.