This article is from page 9 of the 2012-09-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
ENNIS bid farewell on Saturday to one of the town’s best-known fishermen and nature guides.
Jimmy Allard, who lived in Beechpark, passed away suddenly last week. He was a three-time All-Ireland flyfishing champion and international Gold winner and a former member of the Munster Team Championship winning team. In 1976, he finished third in the World Championships.
His exploits were the subject of BBC and RTE documentaries. After working in England, Jimmy returned to Ireland in the sixties and got a job driving for Roadstone.
He lived for a time in Newmarketon-Fergus before settling in Ennis.
Mr Allard captained his country in the home internationals, beating Scotland in 1990 in Lough Owel, just outside Mullingar.
He was the first person to introduce ducks and geese to the River Fergus in 1990 and served as chairman of the Clare Regional Game Council.
In 2011, Mr Allard advocated converting a stretch of land between Beechpark and the One Mile Inn into a wildlife sanctuary. He also brought tourists fishing on lakes around Clare, the American actress Connie Francis and the former Governor of California, Ed Brown, being among Mr Allard’s more famous guests.
In an interview with The Clare People in 2007, Mr Allard recalled his love of fishing and the great outdoors.
“I got into the flyfishing back to Ennis in the ‘60s. I had an idea about starting up a club. I used to go down to Stonehall – there was an old man from England I used to know. He showed me how to make casts and flies.
“I started entering competitions here in Ennis. I did pretty well, won the odd competition and got a few prizes. I went to the Munster championships and I qualified for the National and the first time I was in that in 1974, I won it. It was the first time anyone from Clare won it. I made the Irish team after that. I won a couple of the big competitions on the Corrib,” he said.
Mr Allard will be sadly missed by his wife Cauch, children Tyrone, Kevin, Seamus, George and Cait extended family and friends.