Wit, Whiskey, and Water How a Perpetual Debtor Became Ireland's Most Famous Fishing Guide

What do you get when a dishonorably discharged soldier, debtor's prison survivor, and perpetual scandal writes a fishing guide? A Victorian bestseller that went through 17 editions.In 1886, Captain John Joseph Dunn (writing as "Hi Regan") published "How and Where to Fish in Ireland"—ostensibly a practical fishing manual, but actually a hilarious window into Victorian Ireland complete with paraffin-based midge repellent, whiskey-for-your-feet advice, and a strap-on device called a "coil horn" that isn't what you think it is. Host Avril takes you through this moldy treasure (literally—the book arrived covered in actual mold) to uncover the story of a charming rogue who lived on "air and other people's money" while somehow befriending dukes, dodging debt collectors, and writing one of Ireland's most enduring fishing guides.Discover Victorian fishing techniques that involved setting yourself on fire with paraffin mixtures, railway networks instead of roads (pre-1896 cars), counties with different names (Kings and Queens County before 1922), and the delicate art of bribing boatmen with whiskey and "dowsers" (tips). Plus: trout cooked in grease paper over turf embers, landlord permissions for river access during the Famine era, and why County Mayo is "perhaps externally and internally, the wettest county in Ireland."But the real twist? Captain Dunn's daughter Mary Isabelle became "George Egerton," one of the most important feminist authors of the late 1800s. While dad wrote about catching trout, she wrote about women catching their independence.Features readings from "How and Where to Fish in Ireland" by Hi Regan (Captain John Joseph Dunn), 10th edition (1900), originally published 1886.