Over the years, as my fishing friends and I have become more successful, Mark, who made his fortune on Wall Street, bought a plot on the lake shore and Nigel, our resident Architect, built a house for him there from a drawing Mark had made on a napkin. Sadly, when Mark moved to New York it was sold and so now we stay at the Lodge at Ashford Castle, one of the best resort hotels in the world, and occasionally at the Castle itself. Ashford Castle sits on Lough Corrib with an imposing gaze. It was originally built in 1228 in the Norman style by the ‘House of Burke’ and in 1852 it was purchased by Sir Benjamin Guinness who extended it in a more Victorian style. In 1939 it was sold to Noel Haggard who turned it into a Hotel, and it was here that in 1951, John Ford came to film ‘The Quiet Man’ starring John Wayne and Maureen O Hara, both in the Castle grounds and in the nearby village of Cong. It is a reflection of the slow pace of life in Ireland that it took the town of Cong at least 20 years to catch on to the fact that American tourists were coming to Ireland looking for the idyllic setting of the film, and they eventually erected a statue and opened a Quiet Man Museum in a replica of the famous cottage.
Trout fishing during the Mayfly hatch is what drew us initially to the west coast of Ireland. Mark was the only real angler among us, and so the thought of dapping with a live Mayfly attached to the end of a gossamer line with a short leader appealed to the philistines amongst us. My friend Andrew, who had the advantage of a public school education followed by Trinity College Cambridge, was our early adviser on all things etiquette, like which wine went best with fish and chips, has since become quite an accomplished fisherman. Well, at least he looks the part. As a fashion & celebrity photographer, my normal attire of black layered over black, with the occasional grey or if feeling adventurous blue, is frowned upon on a fishing boat, and so I often find myself in the excellent Village tackle shops sifting through Barbour Jackets and Hunter boots, with the ubiquitous cream cable knit sweater surreptitiously creeping closer to my basket. After fishing in Ireland for almost 30 years, I am beginning to get the hang of it. END
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