My brother Sean lives in Ireland just a short hop form Cork City. The city centre is situated on an Island between two channels of the River Lee and is on the doorstep of one of the largest natural harbours in the world. On an another island, this one in Cork City´s harbour, is the town of Cobh from which the ill-fated Titanic set sail in April 1912 as well as, in earlier times, many ships carrying emigrants. The locals dub the departure point for these journeys, evocatively, Heartbreak Pier.

The Lee flows eastward into Cork and if you follow it upstream you will reach the Angler´s Rest at Carrickrohane. This is a good spot for lunch or to grab a quick pint. There is a bridge across the river here where you will often see salmon anglers fishing. The river is broad but not very deep and could be waded from one side to another in many places. Just a little way downstream of the bridge a smaller river flows into the Lee. This is the Shournagh. Follow this river upstream heading roughly northwards and you will find a bridge, the first that you meet, called Healey´s bridge. Sean´s house is just a short walk away.

The Shournagh is clean and healthy and is one of half a dozen rivers intensively studied by Irish fisheries scientists. Invertebrate samples are taken several times each year and a number of indicator species suggest that the river is in good health. Long may that continue.

The river is hidden by trees pretty much all along its length and to reach it you may need to slither on your arse down some steep-sided banks. Fly fishing is often a graceful pursuit – but not always! As the crow flies, while you are standing in the river you might be little more than 20 yards or so from a busy road, particularly in and around Healey´s Bridge, but once you clamber down the overgrown margins and stand knee-deep in the cool river you put at least a thousand miles of distance between you and the rest of civilization.

The Shournagh is a productive river and holds a good head of small trout. There is the odd sea trout and salmon run the river too. The trout rise steadily if you can join them for the last hour of daylight but they will rise intermittently throughout the day. We did not fish for them using nymphs but it looks like great nymphing water and it might be a more productive approach on many days. I guess we feel, as many others do, that there is nothing that comes close to catching on the dry fly even though fewer fish may come to hand.

Sean and I fished this river for a couple of hours on two or three occasions. On the first evening we turned up just as the fish were switching on to their evening rise. We could not have been there much earlier since Sean had two teenage sons to to drop into Cork city and various goats and hens and dogs to sort out. But the timing turned out perfect. We fished one rod between us and took turns. Sean let me do the lion´s share of the fishing and between us we took about 10 trout, all of them on little dries. When the light faded, after an hour and a half or so, we called it a day and trudged back to the homestead to knock back a few glasses of wine.

The two other times we fished the river were before lunch and we managed to catch a few trout. These fish are really lovely but, regrettably, I do not have good photos of them. I always reckon that there is a good chance that taking a picture could result in my phone ending up in the drink. I have form!

If you fancy having a crack at the Shournagh trout, and to see for yourself how pretty they are, the river in and around Healey´s Bridge is just lovely. And, if you are in the neighbourhood, give Sean a bell. Tell him I sent you. He can put the kettle on or maybe rustle up something a little stronger.