Patsy Peril was born in 1943 in Coonagh, a small fishing community on the Shannon, not far from Limerick. His family fished from a traditional gandelow boat, using hemp nets. Further upriver was Ardnacrusha, the enormous hydro-electric station, opened in 1929 and hailed as an engineering marvel, which provided 87% of the country's electricity.
Even before the station opened, concerns were raised about the effect it would have on the river's wild salmon, blocking them from swimming upstream to spawn. And the concerns proved well-founded — salmon numbers plummeted and have continued to do so ever since. The problem is exacerbated by fish farms in the Shannon estuary, where disease and parasites are rampant among the tightly crowded fish.
Patsy has made it his mission to do what he can to save the Shannon's wild salmon, and indeed wild salmon all over the Atlantic. He has campaigned restlessly on the subject for decades, working with the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation.
