About us

The Ballymore Eustace Trout and Salmon Anglers’ Association was formed in February 1974. At that time, the Liffey at Ballymore Eustace was “Seriously Polluted” by aluminium hydroxide sludge from Dublin Corporation’s Water Purification Plant at the Filter Beds, Bishopsland, Ballymore Eustace. This resulted in the gravel bed of the Liffey being silted with the settleable aluminium sludge and the sludge also settled out on all in-stream vegetation. Trout were stunted and angling was very poor, so it was decided to form a Fishing Club to have the problem sorted out. It took fifteen years before Dublin Corporation built a Sludge Treatment Plant and put it into operation. (The full account of our protracted struggle with Dublin Corporation is given in our recently published History Book.)<br< br=””> Angling improved almost as soon as the Sludge Treatment Plant was put into operation and our membership increased almost tenfold from around 40 to 400 members.</br<>
Other problems arose such as Dublin Corporation’s (now Dublin City Council/Irish Water ) Water Abstraction from Poulaphouca Reservoir, Wicklow County Council’s Blessington Sewage Treatment Plant discharge into Golden Falls Lake, Kildare County Council’s Ballymore Eustace Sewage Treatment Plant pollution of the Liffey at Ballymore Eustace and of course planning application for large developments in Ballymore Eustace. The Association’s involvement in all of these is described in detail in our History Book.


The Association enjoys the Fishing Rights on the Liffey from Golden Falls to Harristown Estate, Lucan Demense and Golden Falls Lake. Because the Liffey is harnessed by the ESB at Poulaphouca and Golden Falls for Hydro Power Generation, water levels in the Liffey at Ballymore Eustace can rise rapidly.

Because membership increased rapidly when the pollution of the River ceased, it is now restricted almost to the stage where a member must retire before a vacancy arises. However, Day Permits are issued to visiting anglers.

The Association, referred to locally as the Fishing Club carried out a major survey of our fishery in 2005 with the Central and Eastern Regional Fishery Board (now Inland Fisheries Ireland (I.F.I.)) and in 2007 undertook a Liffey Habitat (Salmon) Enhancement Programme. We were delighted with the increased number of spawning salmon entering the Liffey system in 2010 following the ban on drift netting at sea. Disappointingly this increase has not continued in the succeeding years. Salmon angling is prohibited on the Liffey and will continue into future years until at least the conservation limit of 4000 salmon is reached.


In conjunction with Inland Fisheries Ireland, the Ballymore Eustace Trout and Salmon Anglers Association carry out regular Salmon and Trout Habitat Enhancement Programmes to the main River Liffey channel and to the Liffey feeder streams at Ballymore Eustace.