IRELAND 185 



still yields good sport, is suffering from a very 

 peculiar cause. Writing in behalf of Lord Clan- 

 morris, who is not a fisherman, Mr. Raoul Joyce, 

 Glenina, who has known the river for twenty years, 

 says : 



"The sport is not so good as it used to be; 

 but it is still very fair in wet seasons, especially if 

 we have floods at the end of June or in July. 

 In dry summers there is practically no salmon fish- 

 ing at all. That is mainly due to the porous 

 nature of the bed of the river for about five miles 

 between Cregmore and Corbally. In this stretch 

 there are swallow holes in the bed and sides of the 

 river, which take away all the water and leave the 

 river for about five miles as dry as a road. The 

 result is disastrous. At least two -thirds of the 

 salmon that go up to Lough Corrib spawn in this 

 river, and some millions of fry perish in that 

 perforated stretch, besides all the trout and 

 salmon that have the misfortune to remain there. 

 Strange to say, above the first swallow hole at 

 Corbally there is always a good stream in the 

 dryest summer, and the water rises again about 

 twenty yards from the river bank, about a mile above 

 Claregalway, and flows into the river, making a 

 good stream thence to Lough Corrib. It would cost 

 about c^lOOO to make a proper job and stop these 

 holes with concrete. If this were done the whole 

 fishing of the Corrib river, as well as that of the 

 lake and that of Claregalway, would be much 

 improved. The preservation of the spawning fish 



