Published: Wednesday, 18th November, 2009 5:00pm

Hugh Gough, Cathedral Road, Cavan

There was genuine sorrow at the death following a long illness of Hugh Gough, Cathedral Road, Cavan which occurred at Cavan General Hospital on Monday, November 9. He was well-known in the licensing trade where he was part of an established base for the pub trade in Church St, alongside two other well-known publicans, the late Phil Gargan and Mick Geoghegan. Hugh had many other interests and was one of Ireland's foremost angling celebrities.

He was affectionately known as "Mr Irish Angling" for his services to the angling and tourist industry. He was largely responsible for encouraging thousands of UK anglers to travel to Ireland and always went out of his way to offer invaluable advice.

Aged 81, Hugh was born near Bawnboy in 1928 but moved to Cavan town in the early '30s when the family bought the licensed premises in Church St. He attended Drumcrave National School and St Patrick's College, Cavan, His school friends who still survive him remember him as he lived his life - neat and meticulous in everything he did. His father died when he was at a young age but he and his mother continued to run the pub. Through hard work and enterprise they developed the premises into a unique ambience and style so much so that it became one of the best-known hostelries in Cavan.

Situated as it was opposite the old Surgical Hospital, the premises were a calling place for patients, visitors and friends as well as hospital staff, and a most reliable depot for the transmission of gifts, presents and messages to and from the hospital.

Local history

Hugh displayed an early interest in local and national history and over the years his collection of artefacts and museum pieces, which he proudly displayed in the pub, brought genuine admiration from those who viewed it - experts and casuals alike. Indeed it was as a result of a conversation at the pub counter following a discussion on the display that the seeds of the establishment of Cumann Seanchais Bhreifne (Breifne Historical Society)) were sewn.

He showed an early interest in angling matters and in the mid-50s led to the formation of the Cavan Tourist Association which concentrated its energies on attracting British and Continental sport anglers to the general Cavan area. So successful were he and his contemporaries that within a few short years Cavan became the best known and most popular tourist angling destination in Ireland and one on which most aspiring centres based their activities.

There is no doubt but that Hugh's efficiency and his meticulous attention to detail formed the cornerstone of Cavan's unique success. From his pub he established a one-man booking and information centre. He made it mandatory that anglers would provide accurate information to him on the weights and numbers of their catches so that dependable information could be transmitted to prospective anglers on the continent and in Britain. He devised and distributed thousands of brochures complete with photographs and answered various enquiries punctually and accurately.

World coarse angling championships

He, as a senior official of the Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland, was instrumental in attracting the World Coarse Angling Championships to Ireland for the first time in 1968. The official language of the governing organisations was French and, true to form, Hugh did a refresher course in the language so that he could attend to queries and conduct conversations in French. When asked why he went to such lengths he replied; "That he wasn't going to let Ireland down".

In 1975 the Central Fisheries Board offered Hugh the position of Chief Coarse Angling Officer. His reply to the officer who travelled to Cavan with the offer was that he would accept on condition that he was given a month to perform two functions -sell the pub and learn to drive a car.

He achieved both and from then until his retirement he criss-crossed Ireland doing what he loved, teaching, promoting, researching and writing about coarse fishing.

Hugh wrote a book on Ireland's coarse fisheries which will stand for a very long time as a tribute to his intellect, his industry and his devotion to the sport of angling.

Tributes

There were many tributes paid to Hugh Gough, among them Peter Brady, Kilnaleck, who was very much involved in the fishing and tourist industry for many years and who spoke at the funeral.

Others included Mike Fitzpatrick, a Fisheries Inspector with the Northern Regional Fisheries Board, and a long-time friend, who said; "It all started way back in the 1950s while running his own bar Gough's Pub on Cavan's Main St. The bar became an anglers retreat and information centre as Hugh directed visitors to local lakes and in turn they came back with stories about the fabulous fishing. "Eventually, he got a job with the Inland Fisheries Trust and a contract with the Central Fisheries Board to become the Coarse Angling Officer. His brief was to promote and market coarse angling in Ireland and he spent many weeks travelling around England and Wales telling everyone about the exciting sport to be had".

Author

Hugh was also the author of the still sought-after book "Coarse Fishing in Ireland" which was published in 1989 and was actively fishing when he retired until his eyesight deteriorated. Many visiting anglers said this book was a Godsend to those who visited Ireland in the early 90s.

Many first-time visitors were travelling to Ireland unaware of the growth in fishing and without any local contacts but then the book gave the fishing enthusiast a starting point.

He provided sound advice on everything from which roads to take, how and where to access the many lakes and rivers, to which species were present and which methods would score.

Then there were the lakes and rivers upon which fishing platforms just 'appeared' in the middle of nowhere. Hugh while not solely responsible for this work provided the leadership and enthusiasm in opening up many fisheries and made them angler friendly.

Danny Goldrick, a long-time friend of Hugh's and a retired Inspector with the Western Regional Fisheries Board said, "He was a brilliant ambassador for Ireland and its coarse fishing".

He was regarded as a genius in the 1960s and 70s when little was known about the development of coarse fishing for tourists.

But Hugh could make a couple of phone calls and a swarm of men from the Inland Fisheries Trust would be on the bank, doing whatever he wanted within a few hours.

Visitors from abroad were equally loud in their praise of Hugh. Graham Marsden, a regular visitor to Ireland for many years said Hugh would always come out to us for a 'small one' and to let us know what had been caught and how the various areas were fishing.

No mean angler himself and in touch with all the notable fisheries in Ireland, he was always worth listening to. He was a very friendly man who always went out of his way to help whenever he could and was a sad loss to Irish angling when he retired.

Hugh helped produce a film on pike with Robert Woods between 1986 and 1989 in Cavan, Galway and Leitrim.

He is survived by his first cousins, other members of his family and many friends.

The funeral took place on Wednesday of last week from the Cathedral to St Brigid's cemetery, Killygarry.