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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.
Patsy Peril grew up in the fishing community of Coonagh, on the outskirts of Limerick City. Involved in inland fisheries all his life, he is also an experienced light aircraft pilot. He has been deeply concerned with environmental matters since childhood, in particular concerning the health and future of Irish rivers. For decades, he has been involved in organisations involved with the oversight, protection, reclamation and sustainability of our natural environment, as well as both local and national salmon net fishers' associations. Patsy continues his activism, striving for a time when our natural waterways are respected and cared for, and for a healthy and sustainable balance between the uses of our environment and its wellbeing. A frequent contributor to meetings, conferences and congresses, Patsy is now ready to bring his crucial message to a general readership.
Deirdre Nuttall has over twenty years of experience of interview-led collaborative writing projects in the areas of memoir, biography, academic writing and popular non-fiction. She collaborated on Paul Connolly's bestselling Against All Odds (John Blake, 2010) and Lisa Lawlor's Irish bestseller Stardust Baby (Mirror, 2021). Deirdre holds a PhD in ethnology and a master's degree in Social Anthropology, with expertise in narrative, oral history and the ethnology of symbolic thought and practice.
