George McGrath is well known to listeners of the Ireland on the Fly podcast, a friend of the show he has joined us on numerous occasions. If you have listened to him before you will no doubt be aware that he and Tom Doc will at times, break out into speaking Irish. George has a great love for the Irish language and is a fluent speaker and Tom, hailing from Joyce Country, is fluent as well.

It was with this in mind that we decided to record a bonus episode during Seachtain na Gaeilge last week. This is a week where the Irish language is promoted throughout the country.

Tom interviewed George and the whole episode is in Irish. It is about George’s background in fishing and his life on his beloved River Suir.  

For those listeners who only have a little Irish here are a few pointers to help you along and here is what is discussed in the interview in this order:

-       Where George got his Irish, neighbour from Connemara, evening meetings

-       Where George hails from

-       How he started in fishing, eels and then on to trout, his first fly rod, the polar opposite of a travel rod. Thumbing and travelling to the fishing.
-       An unusual lift from a blind man

-       Pollution problems and the environment 

-       His YouTube Channel and why he does less hunting, once again the problems in the environment. Swimming against the tide

-       Opening day 2025, Euro Nymphing (The Lob) and streamer fishing. He talks of some of the big streamers.

-       Salmon on the river. His biggest trout, no catch and release when he was growing up, fast food

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