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127-651: Shannonbridge ( Irish : Droichead na Sionainne ) is a village located on the River Shannon , at the junction of the R444 and R357 regional roads in County Offaly , Ireland. It lies within the townland of Raghra ( Irish : Reachra ), at the borders of counties Offaly, Galway and Roscommon , with the majority of the population living east of the bridge in County Offaly. As of the 2016 census ,

254-602: A cutbait . Common natural baits for both fresh and saltwater fishing include earthworm , leech , insects and larvae , minnow , squid , prawn , crayfish , and even crabs, frogs and salamanders . Natural baits are effective due to the real texture, odour and movements of the bait presented. The common earthworm is a universal live bait for freshwater angling, and grubs and maggots are also excellent bait when trout fishing . Grasshoppers , crickets , eels and even ants are also used as bait for trout in their season, although many anglers believe that trout or salmon roe

381-518: A human arm ) and increasing the launch speed of the terminal tackles (the hook, bait/lure, and other co-launched attachments such as float and sinker / feeder ). Traditional fishing rods are made from single piece of hardwood (e.g. ash and hickory ) or bamboo , while contemporary rods are usually made from alloys (e.g. aluminium ) or more often high-tensile composite materials such as fibreglass or carbon fiber , and newer rod designs are often constructed from hollow blanks to increase

508-547: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There

635-559: A " direct-drive " design, while modern reels since the Industrial Revolution typically are "multiplier" reels that use internal gear trains to gain a higher rotational speed . Most reels made from the latter half of the 20th century onwards have smoother line guides, anti-reverse designs, gear disengagement mechanisms and sophisticated drag and braking adjustments to help casting farther, more accurately and reliably, and to provide optimal pulling forces when retrieving

762-717: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of

889-575: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It

1016-478: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,

1143-553: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of

1270-747: A fish from unhooking itself while being reeled in. Some laws and regulations require hooks to be barbless, typically to facilitate catch and release . This rule is commonly implemented to protect populations of certain species, as a barbed hook could cause significant collateral lacerations (especially when it penetrates the gill) that can kill a fish even after released alive. Fishing lines are long, ultra-thin, flexible cords that may come in monofilament or braided multifilament forms. Traditional fishing lines are made of silk, while most modern fishing lines are made from synthetic polymers such as nylon, polyethylene , polyvinylidene fluoride (" fluorocarbon ") or copolymer materials. Important specifications for

1397-423: A fishing line include its material and forms, test weight , diameter, stretch , memory , abrasion resistance, UV resistance, and reflective and/or refractive visibility. A fishing rod is a long, thin stick/pole that acts as an extended lever and allows the angler to amplify line movements while luring and pulling the fish. It also enhances casting distance by lengthening the swing radius (compared to that of

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1524-448: A fishing line. Almost all recreational angling activities involve the use of fishing rods , which is used to manipulate the movements of fishing lines and to allow farther casting of baits / lures . The main rod fishing techniques are float fishing , bottom fishing , lure fishing and trolling , while the former two are often collectively known as "bait fishing" due to the exclusive use of conventional edible baits. Float fishing

1651-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in

1778-441: A laterally flattened float called palyaw , which is shaped like a small outrigger boat , a catamaran or a fish. A longline is attached to the float, and set unto the water's edge and dragged by someone running or walking along the beach. The combination of the water resistance and the diagonal pull forces the float outwards into deeper waters, like a kite . Once the line reaches its maximum line length, it moves rapidly parallel to

1905-412: A longline vertically down into the water (instead of being more horizontally deployed like longlining) with a series of baited hooks. Droplines are weighted at the bottom and have a float at the top. They are not usually as long as longlines and have fewer hooks, and tend to be stationary. Trotlining uses a longline that, instead of being tethered to the water surface only at one end, are fixed at/near

2032-460: A lure they have just been hooked on, a behaviour that is unlikely if hooking were painful. Opponents of catch and release fishing would find it preferable to ban or to severely restrict angling. On the other hand, proponents state that catch-and-release is necessary for many fisheries to remain sustainable, is a practice that generally has high survival rates, and consider the banning of angling as not reasonable or necessary. In some jurisdictions, in

2159-530: A national policy was New Zealand in 1986. The minimum landing size (MLS) is the smallest fish measurement at which it is legal for the fisherman to keep a captured fish. The MLS depends on the species of fish, and allowed sizes also vary around the world, as they are legal definitions which are defined by the local regulatory authority. The idea behind this limitation is that only the older, more mature adult fish get taken, leaving growing juveniles behind to continue breeding and propagating their species. There

2286-585: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in

2413-575: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on

2540-625: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by

2667-691: A single species in a single fishing ground ) around the world had adopted some variant of this approach, along with approximately 100 smaller fisheries in individual countries. Approximately 10% of the marine harvest was managed by ITQs as of 2008. The first countries to adopt individual fishing quotas were the Netherlands , Iceland and Canada in the late 1970s, and the most recent is the United States Scallop General Category IFQ Program in 2010 The first country to adopt individual transferable quotas as

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2794-429: A smaller size survive longer to continue breeding, and the average size of fish stock shrinks over time. This has led to a collapse in the amount of catchable fish in some fisheries. Although most anglers keep their catch for consumption, catch and release fishing is increasingly practiced, especially by fly anglers. The general principle is that releasing fish allows them to survive, thus avoiding unintended depletion of

2921-545: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss

3048-399: Is a bass fishing technique that resembles jigging , and involves repetitively lifting and dropping a flat lure, usually made of 1 to 2.5 oz of lead painted to look like a baitfish (or heavy slabs of metal), through a school of actively feeding fish that the angler has located on a fishfinder . It is used on white and striped bass in the reservoirs of the southern US. Rodless trolling

3175-452: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of

3302-581: Is designed to contain and release groundbaits to help attract fish towards the hook. Lure fishing uses a type of artificial fake bait known as lure , which is usually made from inedible materials such as wood, metal and plastics. Unlike conventional fishing baits, lures do not emit any scent and thus cannot attract fish olfactorily, but instead using prey-like appearances, movements, vibrations, bright reflections and flashy colors to attract and entice carnivorous predatory fish into mistakenly striking. Many lures are equipped with more than one hooks to better

3429-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years

3556-688: Is generally accepted that this management approach will help the fishery create a number of large, trophy-sized fish. In smaller fisheries that are heavily fished, catch and release is the only way to ensure that catchable fish will be available from year to year. The practice of catch and release is criticised by some who consider it unethical to inflict pain upon a fish for purposes of sport. Some of those who object to releasing fish do not object to killing fish for food. Adherents of catch and release dispute this charge, pointing out that fish commonly feed on hard and spiky prey items, and as such can be expected to have tough mouths, and also that some fish will re-take

3683-428: Is increasingly practiced by sport fishermen in recent years to conserve the fish stocks and help maintain sustainability of the local fisheries. Angling is not to be confused with snagging , another fishing technique that also uses line and hook to catch fish. The principal differences between the two techniques are that angling often uses very small hooks and relies on the target fish itself to voluntarily swallow

3810-587: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described

3937-1087: Is prepared from a small amount of bread, often moistened and softened by saliva, then squeezed into a ball of the bite size of small fish. Some baits are not actual food items but rather just "fake" replicas of food made of inedible materials (e.g. wood, metal, silicone rubber , plastics, etc), and are designed to entice predatory fish to strike by imitating the appearance and motions of real prey ( shad , worm, frog, insect, crayfish , etc.). These inedible, replica baits are typically called lures instead of baits, although expressions such as " swimbaits ", "crankbaits", "jerkbaits", " spinnerbaits " and "chatterbaits" are still used when describing specific types of lures. Unlike conventional baits, lures typically do not release any scents and rely solely on looks and sounds/vibrations to attract fish, although occasionally chemical attractants (e.g. dimethyl-β-propiothetin ) are still used in addition either to impregnate favorable smells or to mask away unwanted plastic smells. Many anglers prefer to fish solely using lures, as these rely more on

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4064-471: Is rare and is protected nationally, is seen in the Callows area. Ducks, gulls , swans, and breeding waders including the northern lapwing , common redshank , Eurasian curlew and common sandpiper are also recorded within the area. Shannonbridge Gaelic Athletic Association club have won one Offaly Senior Football Championship title, which they achieved in 1996 by defeating Tullamore . They also won

4191-439: Is some criticism of this legal requirement, however, as it applies artificial selection pressure to the fish population (see Fisheries-induced evolution ) unless the anglers voluntarily practise catch and release indiscriminate of sizes. As larger fish (whose survival has been more successful so far) get taken out of the population, the genes for larger size are reduced or removed from the gene pool , while fish that mature at

4318-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it

4445-516: Is superior to any other bait. Crayfish, which are preyed upon by a variety of ray-finned fishes , are also commonly used as bait, either live or with only the tail meat. They are popular for catching catfish , largemouth bass , smallmouth bass , striped bass , perch and pike . However, studies had confirmed that introducing crayfish outside of their home range has led to various ecological problems of them becoming invasive species . Transporting crayfish as live bait has also contributed to

4572-496: Is the most common method of angling, defined by the use of a compact light buoy attached to fishing line – known as a float (or " bobber " in the United States) — as the bite indicator . Due to buoyancy, the float remains at the water surface and suspends the baited hook at a predetermined depth. It can also drift in the prevailing current and carry the hook to areas of water otherwise inaccessible by casting alone. When

4699-401: Is the oldest angling technique used by mankind, and can be done from boats or from the shore. It is used mainly to catch groundfish and squid , but smaller pelagic fish can also be caught. Deadlining is the practice of leaving a baited handline in the water (with the other end fastened to the bank ) and returning later (usually overnight) to check and capture any tethered fish, similar to

4826-422: Is typically used in commercial fishing, with one or more baited lines drawn through the water behind a slow moving fishing boat that is usually equipped with outriggers , downriggers and trolling motors . Trolling is used to catch economic pelagic fish such as mackerel and kingfish . Pahila (literally meaning "pulled") is a Filipino traditional shoreline trolling, uniquely using baited hooks tied to

4953-538: Is used, and when the lure catches the attention of a game fish and successfully results in biting/swallowing of the lure, the angler can detect it by watching for splashes and feeling any vibrations, rod bending and changes in line tension. Lure fishing also typically uses relatively lightweight fishing rods coupled with baitcasting reels or spinning reels. Depending on the style of lure retrieval, lure fishing can roughly be separated into power fishing , which relies on more frequent and vigorous lure retrievals to increase

5080-721: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act

5207-534: The Canadian province of Manitoba , for example, catch and release is mandatory for some species such as brook trout . Many of the jurisdictions which mandate the live release of sport fish also require the use of artificial lures and barbless hooks to minimise the chance of injury to fish. Mandatory catch and release also exists in the Republic of Ireland where it was introduced as a conservation measure to prevent

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5334-547: The Esker Riada (a major routeway in the 18th century). The village has one of the oldest bridges still in use over the River Shannon , completed in 1757. The monastic settlement of Clonmacnoise is approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) upriver. Shannonbridge gets its name from the bridge connecting County Offaly and County Roscommon. Rachra is generally considered the old name for Shannonbridge, but 'Shannonbridge'

5461-631: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")

5588-421: The specific strength and reduce the overall weight. Modern rods also may come in multi-piece or telescoping forms, which are more portable and storage-friendly. Fishing reels are manually cranked reels typically mounted onto a fishing rod, used to wind and stow fishing line when a long casting distance or a prolonged retrieval is expected. Traditional fishing reels are essentially compact windlasses with

5715-634: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English

5842-789: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as

5969-400: The 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of

6096-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which

6223-571: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme

6350-471: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish

6477-549: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but

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6604-601: The Offaly Intermediate Championship in 2019, and progressed onto the Leinster semi-final where they were defeated by Rathgarogue-Cushinstown. Several players from the club have won medals with both under-21 and senior county teams. For example, John Ryan won an All-Ireland senior hurling medal and a national football league medal in 1998. Two players from the club, Vincent Mooney in 1991 and Anthony Kelly in 1996, were chosen as Offaly 'footballer of

6731-564: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,

6858-779: The Roscommon side of the river, within sight of an even then declining early Christian nunnery . In 2019, a group of Romanian nuns established an orthodox monastery, The Life-Giving Spring - Ard Ciaran , in Shannonbridge. The property Ard Ciaran was formerly a prayer and retreat centre run by the Ursuline order . Historically, the main employers in Shannonbridge have included the Electricity Supply Board (whose West Offaly Power Station operated from 1965 to 2020) and Bord na Móna (harvesting peat used in

6985-411: The angler's position; and hookbait , which is directly attached to the fish hook to entice the fish into swallowing the hook along with the bait. In colloquial usage, the word "bait" refers specifically to hookbaits, which can be further separated into three main categories: natural baits , artificial baits and lures . The choice of what bait to use is dictated mainly by the target species's diet,

7112-518: The area's peatlands and the peat archives in the bogs for research purposes. The Callows is a stretch of the River Shannon at Shannonbridge that has a shallow gradient which results in seasonal flooding when heavy rain occurs. This has resulted in the formation of callows areas (wet grassland areas) which are rich in flora and fauna and a conservation area which is designated as an (NHA) Natural Heritage Area, (SAC) Special Area of Conservation and (SPA) Special Protection Area . The corn crake , which

7239-524: The area, provides a habitat for a number of species of local flora , include types of algae , reeds and grasses . Local fauna include brown hares, foxes, mink and frogs. There are butterflies, dragonflies , beetles and in the Shannon; mussels , snails and leeches . Bird varieties on the Shannon include swans ( Bewick's , mute and whooper ), moorhens, swallows, terns, ducks and corncrakes . Climatologists , archaeologists and biologists value

7366-426: The bait/lure is allowed to drift and react freely to the turbulences in the water current, much like how a tethered kite would behave in a wind gust. Although all angling techniques use hook and line, the term "line fishing" specifically refers to those that do not involve using fishing rods. Handlining is angling with a handheld fishing line, baited with lures or bait fish just like normal rod angling. Handlining

7493-432: The baited hook (i.e. "bite" or "strike"), the hook point will likely pierce into and anchor itself inside the fish jaw , gullet or gill , and the fish in turn becomes firmly tethered by the fishing line. Once the fish is hooked (often colloquially called "fish-on"), any struggles and attempts to escape will pull along the line, causing the bite indicator to signal the angler, who jerks the fishing rod back to further deepen

7620-746: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He

7747-527: The best outcome for managing fish populations. Individual fishing quota (IFQ), also known as individual transferable quota (ITQ), is a kind of catch share that sets a species -specific total allowable catch (TAC), typically by weight and for a given time period. A dedicated portion of the TAC (called "quota share") is then allocated to individual fishermen, and can typically be transferable (i.e. bought, sold or leased). As of 2008, 148 major fisheries (generally,

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7874-433: The chance of anchoring into the fish's mouth , though some hookless lures are used to bait the fish nearer so it can be captured via other means such as spearing , netting / trapping or capturing by hand . In addition to rod angling, handlining , longlining and commercial trolling also employ lure fishing. Lure fishing is a popular style of recreational fishing. When fishing, a lure angler will repeatedly cast out

8001-402: The chance of luring fish; and finesse fishing , which focuses on the more lingered and vivid lure presentation within each cast-retrieval cycle to better entice fish. Rod trolling is basically a simplified version of commercial trolling (see below ), with fishing rods functioning as improvised outriggers to tow the baits/lures through the water, usually behind or beside a moving boat with

8128-498: The decline of Atlantic salmon stocks on some rivers. In Switzerland, catch and release fishing is considered inhumane and was banned in September 2008. Barbless hooks, which can be created from a standard hook by removing the barb with pliers or can be bought, are sometimes resisted by anglers because they believe that increased fish escapes. Barbless hooks reduce handling time, thereby increasing survival. Concentrating on keeping

8255-504: The definition of angling since they do not rely upon the use of a hook and line. Fishing seasons are set by countries or localities to indicate what kinds of fish may be caught during sport fishing (also known as angling) for a certain period of time. Fishing seasons are enforced (usually by water police ) to maintain ecological balance and to protect species of fish during their spawning period during which they are easier to catch and more physiologically vulnerable. Slot limits prohibit

8382-474: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as

8509-857: The entire lure package is known as a rig . Common rigs with a soft plastic lure are the Texas Rig or the Carolina Rig . Some fishing lures (e.g. spoons and spinnerbaits) may not even resemble any prey in looks, and may require skilled rod movements to impart an enticing presentation to the target fish, for example in jigging and topwater fishing . Some lures, such as the flies used in fly fishing , are ultralight and even require specialized gears and techniques to be cast properly. In modern times, there are also lures that photically attract fish with LED illuminiation, as well as battery-powered "bionic" lures that are essentially primitive robot fish that can swim around without needing to be towed by

8636-614: The family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as a result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022

8763-560: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of

8890-514: The fish bites and swallows the hook, the float visually signals any forces exerted on the leader line below it, as the fisherman can then see it being pulled underwater and/or sideways. Bottom fishing, also called legering in the United Kingdom, uses a weighted tackle called a sinker tied to the end of the fishing line to keep the baited hook close to the bottom of the water, to target groundfishes such as sucker , bream , catfish and crappie . The sinker can also be used to add momentum to

9017-416: The fish), before dragging it near enough to eventually lift it out of the water (known as " landing ") for a successful catch. Sometimes a hand net (or "landing net") or a long-handled hook is used to make fetching the fish easier. Angling is the principal method of recreational fishing , but commercial fisheries also use angling methods such as longlining , trotlining or trolling . In many parts of

9144-450: The fisherman (known as the angler ) will first throw the hook (i.e. " cast ") to a chosen area of water (i.e. fishing ground ), and then patiently wait for fish to approach and devour the hookbait. It is also not uncommon for the angler to scatter some loose bait ( groundbait ) around the target area before even casting the hook, to better attract distant fish with scents. If a fish has succumbed to its own feeding instinct and swallowed

9271-417: The float pulls the float deeper into the water, causing it to oscillates in and out of water in a bobbing -like fashion (hence its American English name, the "bobber"). Other bite indicators used in angling include: In angling, two broad types of baits are used: groundbait , which is thrown separately into the water in large quantities as an " appetizer " to olfactorily attract distant fish nearer to

9398-437: The habitat and weather conditions](which can alter the fish's foraging behavior), the angler's own personal preferences, and the local fishery regulations . Using an optimal angling bait can increase the chance of catching the intended fish, while conversely using an inadequate bait will greatly reduce the success rate, especially when there are other bait fishermen nearby. Natural baits are food items that are present within

9525-483: The harvest of fish where the measured lengths (from the snout to the end of the tail fin ) fall within a protected interval. These are put in action to help protect certain fish (usually juvenile ) in a given area. They generally require anglers to release captured fish if they fall within a given size range, allowing anglers to keep only smaller (though rare) or larger fish. Slot limits vary from water to water depending on what local officials believe would produce

9652-422: The hook anchorage (i.e. " setting the hook ") and then tries to retrieve the line back, pulling the fish closer in the process. During the line retrieval, the angler will carefully monitor the line and rod tension to avoid equipment breaking. With stronger and feistier fish, the angler might need to temporarily halt or even reverse the line retrieval to prolong the struggle time and tire out the fish (i.e. "walking"

9779-408: The hook and help casting the line to a further distance. The method can be used both with handlining and rod fishing, and can be done both from boats and from the land . Specialized fishing rods called "donkas" are also commonly used for bottom fishing, and a quiver tip (sometimes coupled with a jingle bell ) is used instead as the bite indicator. Some sinkers are replaced by feeders , which

9906-409: The hook to pierce internally into the fish's mouth; while snagging uses very large, sharp, multi-pointed grappling hooks that actively "claw" and pierce externally into the body/gill of the fish, and hardly ever involves any hookbait. Snagging also inflicts far more mutilating injuries to the fish and makes it very difficult to heal and survive even if the fish is released alive or manages to escape

10033-716: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has

10160-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of

10287-476: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,

10414-399: The lay of the line. When the game would swallow the bait, a tug on the line would cause the gorge to orient itself at right angles to the line, thereby sticking in the fish or animal's throat or gullet . Gorges evolved into the modern fishing hook which is J-shaped with a loop on one end and a sharp point on the other. Most hooks have a barb near the point to better anchor the point and prevent

10541-690: The line taut while fighting fish, using recurved point or "triple grip" style hooks on lures, and equipping lures that do not have them with split rings can significantly reduce escapement. Angling is also practiced in fishing tournaments, where contestants compete for prizes based on the total length or weight of a fish, usually of a pre-determined species, caught within a specified time. These contests originated as local fishing contests and have evolved to include large competitive circuits, with professional anglers that are supported by commercial endorsements. Professional anglers may gain cash prizes for placing well in tournaments. Similar competitive fishing exists at

10668-401: The line. A bite indicator is any device that can help to notify the angler that the hook has been swallowed by a fish. There are many types of bite indicators, the oldest and most ubiquitously used being the fishing float , a lightweight marker buoy that floats at the water surface with the hook and bait suspended below it. When the fish swallows the hook, the leader line between the hook and

10795-401: The lure afar and then methodically retrieves the line, pulling the lure through the water and creating vibrations, turbulent splashes and/or a popping action in the process, which imitating a small aquatic prey such as a baitfish , a drowning insect or a frog. A skilled angler can explore many possible hiding spots for fish through lure casting such as under logs and on flats. No bite indicator

10922-582: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed

11049-407: The mouth (i.e. snagging , or "foul hooking" and "jagging" ) or the use of nets and hand hooks other than as an aid in landing a captured fish. Some species, such as bait fish , may be taken with nets, and a few for food. Sometimes, non-sport fish are considered of lesser value and it may be permissible to take them by methods like snagging, bow and arrow or spearing , none of which fall under

11176-804: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to

11303-469: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them

11430-655: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as

11557-503: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish

11684-577: The person pulling it along the beach, and is pulled back to the shore intermittently to check for catches. It is also called subid-subid , sibid-sibid , paguyod , pahinas , hilada, or saliwsiw , among other names, in other Philippine languages . Laws and regulations managing angling vary greatly, often regionally, within countries. These commonly include permits (licences), closed periods (seasons) where specific species are unavailable for harvest, restrictions on gear types, and quotas . Laws generally prohibit catching fish with hooks other than in

11811-557: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After

11938-610: The popular freshwater fish species include bass , northern pike / muskellunge , walleye , trout and anadromous salmon , tilapia , channel catfish and panfishes such as crappie , sunfish (e.g. bluegill ) and yellow perch . In Europe, Asia and Australasia , freshwater anglers often pursue species such as carp , pike , bream , tench , rudd , roach , European perch , catfish and barbel , many of which are regarded as undesirable " rough fish " in North America. In developed countries , catch and release angling

12065-485: The population. For species such as marlin, muskellunge, and bass, there is a cultural taboo among anglers against taking them for food. In many parts of the world, size limits apply to certain species, meaning fish below a certain size must, by law, be released. It is generally believed that larger fish have a greater breeding potential. Some fisheries have a slot limit that allows the taking of smaller and larger fish, but requiring that intermediate sized fish be released. It

12192-441: The public. Local services include two shops, a post office, three pubs, a service restaurant, and a butcher. Tourists come to Shannonbridge by cruiser on the River Shannon, a short distance from the main street. A tourist office is located at the west end of the main street. The monastic settlement of Clonmacnoise is 7 km (4.3 mi) upriver and attracts approximately 100,000 visitors per annum. Shannonbridge tennis court

12319-492: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )

12446-432: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need

12573-647: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in

12700-1189: The risk of transmitting Myxobolus cerebralis (whirling disease), trout and salmon should not be used as bait. Anglers may increase the possibility of contamination by emptying bait buckets into fishing venues and collecting or using bait improperly. The transportation of fish from one location to another can break the law and cause the introduction of fish alien to the ecosystem. Artificial baits are edible baits that are not directly acquired via natural means, but are made from other food materials via some kind of artificial processing. These can be fish food that are either homemade (e.g. dried food paste ) or commercially purchased (e.g. boilies and feed pellets ), or prepared/processed food such as cutlets , offals , dehulled kernels (e.g. peas and corns), dairy products (cheese and curd ), bread or doughballs made from various ingredient mixtures (e.g. rice, semolina , cornmeal , bread crumbs, and fishmeal , etc.), which can be used to attract omnivorous or even herbivorous fish. In lakes in southern climates such as Florida, panfish such as sunfish will even take household wheat bread or pet food as bait. These bread bait

12827-472: The river. At Curleys Island between Shannonbridge and Clonmacnoise, there is a legendary ford of Snámh Dá Éan ("swim two birds"). It was here that a proselytising Saint Patrick ostensibly crossed the Shannon into Connacht , and much later the Anglo-Normans considered the ford important enough to be guarded by one of their campaign forts. Accordingly, they constructed the great Motte of Clonburren on

12954-506: The rivers Suck and Brosna and in the Grand Canal . Lough Ree is 30 km (19 mi) from the town. The Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway Bog Tour is a 45-minute train journey giving a guided 9 km (5.6 mi) tour across a working environment, a cutaway area of preserved peatlands. About 32,000 visitors go on the tour per annum. The Shannonbridge Pottery is nearby. In August 2009, Ireland's first ever Climate Camp

13081-407: The rod fixated to the gunwale . It can also be done by very slowly winding the line in (like "finesse"-type lure fishing) or even sweeping the line sideways, with the angler operating the rod from a static position (e.g. atop a jetty, pier or bridge). A variation of trolling is drift fishing , which is usually done from an unpowered boat in faster-flowing waters. The line is not actively reeled, and

13208-488: The snag. The use of the hook in angling is descended, historically, from what would today be called a gorge . The word "gorge", in this context, comes from the French word meaning "throat". Gorges were used by ancient peoples to capture fish and animals like seal, walrus and birds. A gorge was a long, thin piece of bone or stone attached by its midpoint to a thin line. The gorge would be baited so that it would rest parallel to

13335-436: The spread of zebra mussels , which are known to attach themselves onto crayfish, in various waterways throughout Europe and North America. The capture, transportation and culture of bait fish can spread damaging organisms between ecosystems , endangering them. In 2007 several American states enacted regulations designed to slow the spread of fish diseases, including viral hemorrhagic septicemia , by bait fish. Because of

13462-515: The station). Tourism also supports employment in the area, and there is a farming community present. The nearby towns of Ballinasloe , County Galway and Athlone , County Westmeath serve as district centres for the village. The Electricity Supply Board's peat-fired power station, the West Offaly Power Station, had a capacity of 135 megawatts and was located about 1 km (0.62 mi) downriver from Shannnonbridge. The peat

13589-415: The surface at both ends of the longline, with hooked snood lines hanging vertically down along the main line. Trotlines are used for catching crabs or fish (e.g. catfish ), particularly across rivers. They can be physically set in many ways, such as tying each end to a fixed structure and span the line across the water in-between like a boom , and adjusting rest of the line with weights and floats. Slabbing

13716-408: The target fish's natural diet, which are usually animals at a lower trophic level in the food web . A natural bait angler, with few exceptions, will use a common prey species of the target fish as a bait. The natural bait used may be live food (known as a live bait ) or carcass (i.e. dead bait ), and a bait improvised from grossly intact portions of a dead animal (e.g. fish head ) is known as

13843-511: The use of a snare trap by hunters . Longlining is a commercial fishing technique that uses a long heavy line with a series of hundreds or even thousands of baited hooks hanging from the main line via branch lines called snoods . Longlines are usually operated from specialised boats called longliners , which use a special winch to haul in the line and can operate in deeper waters targeting pelagic species such as swordfish , tuna , halibut and sablefish . Droplining involves setting

13970-407: The user's rod and reel actions to successfully attract fish, and requires frequent casting and retrieving the line, and are thus more interactive and exciting. Lures can be broadly categorized into hard-body and soft-body lures , although hybrid lures with both hard and soft components are also common. Soft-body lures tend to give a more flexible and realistic "swimming" posture when towed through

14097-726: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at

14224-467: The village had a population of 175. There are two housing estates within the village. Its location along Ireland's largest river and its proximity to Clonmacnoise have contributed to tourism being a key contributor to the local economy. The village is flanked by a Special Area of Conservation – the Shannon Callows . The physical environment consists of the River Shannon, callows, boglands and

14351-502: The water, while hard-body lures usually rely on stirring up more noise and turbulences . Some newer hard lure designs, however, are multi-jointed and can resemble soft lures in dynamics. Soft lures are typically coupled with a single conventional fish hook or a jighead , while hard lures commonly have more than one hooks (which are often treble hooks ). When lures are used in combination with other terminal tackles ( floats , sinkers , swivels , etc.) to produce sophisticated presentations,

14478-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By

14605-594: The world, a fishing licence is mandated for angling and size limits apply to certain species, meaning by law, fish below and/or above a certain size range must be released alive after capture. The popular fish species pursued by anglers, collectively known as game fish , vary with geography. Among the many species of saltwater fish that are angled for sport globally are billfish ( swordfish , sailfish and marlin ), tuna , trevally and grouper , while cod and sea bass are popular targets in Europe. In North America,

14732-635: The year'. As of 2024, the club was playing Gaelic football at the Junior A grade. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of

14859-465: Was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within the education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to

14986-514: Was adopted after the building of the bridge in 1757. The military may have initially constructed a village, the 'first Shannonbridge', in the vicinity of Temple Duff graveyard just south of the power station. Shannonbridge was fortified by the British in the Napoleonic era. Some of the fortifications , including a fort that now houses a restaurant, are still visible today on the west bank of

15113-531: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from

15240-490: Was built in 1988 with funds from the national lottery on land leased from the Electricity Supply Board. The court is located at the eastern end of the village adjacent to St. Kierans Park. Shannonbridge is a destination for anglers , and the River Shannon has stocks of bream , rudd , rudd/bream hybrids, tench , perch , pike as well as stocks of trout , eel and salmon . Angling also takes place in

15367-668: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build

15494-495: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. Angling When angling,

15621-417: Was held in the village, bringing activists from all over the country to a field next to the West Offaly Power Station. For a week they protested against the extraction and burning of peat in the station, on the grounds that it releases large quantities of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. They held workshops on the themes of sustainability and climate change. The River Shannon, which flows through

15748-474: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in

15875-693: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in

16002-464: Was supplied from the Blackwater Bog peatlands, managed by Bord na Móna. The power station closed in 2020. The Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway (a narrow gauge railway ) was principally used to transport the peat to the power station, and also provides passenger tours of the peat lands for visitors. Shannonbridge Potteries is located just outside the village. Their factory shop is open to

16129-442: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,

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