'Fly Fishing for Trout and Salmon on the Faughan' revisited

An absolutely beautiful new book has joined the pantheon of quality literature highlighting Derry’s rich and varied social history.

The contemporary iteration of Edward Clarkson Heaney’s 1947 pamphlet ‘Fly-Fishing for Trout and Salmon on the Faughan’ was launched in August.

Clarkson Heaney’s gem, a pristine copy of which can change hands for as much as £1,000 these days, was “revisited” by Gerry Quinn of River Faughan Anglers.

Gerry Quinn with Mayor Patricia Logue at the launch in the Guildhall.

At the launch in the Guildhall, Gerry described the year and a half’s work as a “labour of love”.

He added: “We looked at the history of fishing and back through the characters who fished the Faughan. Reminiscing. It was almost like a reacquaintance with old friends.

“I kind of brought people together and I think reproduced a book that will last, and will bring Clarkie Heaney to a new generation of people.”

Over a cuppa in Creggan Country Park, Gerry’s home-from-home, he revealed Clarkie Heaney’s original book had come from a series of articles printed in the Londonderry Standard over the previous two years.

Short film of the launch of @gerryquinn57's new version of EC Heaney's 1947 fishing bible 'Fly Fishing for Trout & Salmon on the Faughan'.

Produced by Oisín Farrell. Music: @jack_warnock's 'The Faughan Side', from 'Le Solas Faoithine'.

Many thanks to @mayordcsdc and Joe Mahon. pic.twitter.com/cFkN3fJi2m

— Colmcille Press (@ColmcillePress) August 30, 2023

“It was a small pamphlet type publication, quite well known among Faughan anglers and the wider angling community,” said Gerry. “It is a very interesting wee book. It contains a lot of anecdotes and a lot of good advice and information about how to catch trout and salmon in the Faughan and elsewhere. It has a lot of really good information about the flies he used.”

The ‘new’ ‘Fly-Fishing for Trout and Salmon on the Faughan is dedicated to Heather Diamond, who sadly died in a house fire in March 2021.

Heather Diamond the 'face' of Faughan Anglers.

Gerry explained: “Two years ago, our friend and colleague, Heather Diamond, who was office manager for the River Faughan Anglers, died. Heather was the face of the Faughan anglers and a good friend. We probably have never got over what happened to Heather.

“A lot of our stuff was lost in the house fire. We had to build up our databases again and start from scratch with our membership and find new ways of relating to the public and selling permits again. We had the added difficulty of it being during covid as well.

“After Heather’s death, we were looking for ways of commemorating her. There’s a nice bench at Eglinton, which was put up by her friends. She taught Zumba and aerobics and all sorts throughout the North West.

“I came up with the idea of republishing Clarkson Heaney’s book in Heather’s memory. I investigated the provenance of the book and established there was no copyright, no issue in republishing, so we began putting together the ‘new’ book,” said Gerry.

The book was practically rewritten because the text was very dense, very tight, almost inaccessible. It was reproduced with the help of Colmcille Press, an Independent Publishing House Based in Derry.

Quick to acknowledge all of those involved in the updated publication, Gerry said: “Emmett McCourt, who is an author in his own right and a chef, helped with the biographical element in researching Clarkson Heaney’s family.

“Emmett found a grandson and subsequently we found wider connections as well. We were able to flesh out what we already knew about Edward Clarkson Heaney. We integrated Clarkie’s book into a wider publication using Emmett’s biographical material.

“We were very fortunate in that we got original artwork by Paul Gallagher, which really makes the book. Paul is a Faughan angler as well. His artwork is superlative. It is throughout the book and it really sets the book off.

“We also in our ranks have some really great fly tiers. Clarkson Heaney’s original old style salmon flies were reproduced by Peter Canning and Kilian McDaid tied up Clarkson Heaney’s brown trout spiders and white trout flies.

“Mark McLoon tied Clarkson Heaney’s signature fly, the Black Spider, which was the pseudonym under which he wrote. Mark also did photography which is superlative. Mark knew what he was doing,” said Gerry.

Paul Slevin also tied us up some contemporary flies which are juxtaposed between the old and the new in the book.

“We have a whole set of contemporaries all of which have very detailed instructions on how to tie them.

“We have also included Emmett’s story of how my father (Jamesie Quinn) had given him a fly, ‘Jamesie’s Fenian’, with which he caught his first salmon In the Faughan. We have a couple of my father’s flies in the book as well: ‘Jamesie’s Copper’ and ‘Jamesie’s Gold Shrimp.

“We have also looked back at the history of the Faughan Anglers. I have a lot of minutes of old meetings. We have some stuff going back quite a long time, some very interesting material, so we have reproduced some of that.

“We have an array of cups as well, which were presented in angling competitions and we have done a bit of investigation into those. For instance, we have the John McGavigan Cup, and we did a bit of work around that. There is the Bob Whitters Memorial Cup and, thanks to Robert Murtland, one of  our older Faughan Anglers, we got a good bit of biographical information about Bob. I would have known Bob from fishing the Faughan. He used to go out on the bus so Robert was able to fill in some of the details and also reflect back on his memories of fishing the Faughan over very, very many years.

“We have also got the Jim Ramsey Cup, which was presented by his family and the John G Gill Cup, about which we could find very little information. So, we have a piece about the cups and the people involved, the people who won the cups.”

Gerry also drew on his father Jamesie’s diary.

“Through that there is a reflection of my father’s involvement with the Faughan Anglers, from his first appointment to the committee, to becoming vice chairman and then chairman; the subsequent to the dissolution of the River Faughan Anglers Association; and the creation of the River Faughan Anglers Limited as a company, of which Jamesie  was the first chairman.”

He added: “We have also got his reflection back on how the river fished, what he used to catch, and how much he and my brother’s used to catch. Looking back, it is amazing how prolific the river was.

“My father’s diary also gives snapshots of what was happening on the river, so there are also recordings of times of drought there, when there were no fish as well as references to some years when there was an abundance of salmon.

“So we have a historical record in a sense, which is very good for those looking back today. We have Clarkie Heaney’s recollections going back as far as 1935, when he was involved in Faughan Anglers of the day and we have a continuum of memory and reflection and recollection from 1935 comprising Clarkie Heaney’s written notes, from the 1940s and  my father’s diary, which goes up to 2013.

“We also have a photographic recollection of how things were and how things are now. And all this in memory of Heather. It is our tribute to Heather.”

Published by Cholmcille Press, ‘Fly-Fishing for Trout and Salmon on the Faughan Revisited’ can be purchased at Creggan Country Park and Rod and Line, Clarendon Street.