Trip of a Lifetime-Fly tyer in Ireland
Hello,
My name is Damian Welsh and I'm a 37 year old father of three, and I am a fly tyer & Author from Nova Scotia, Canada.
I've been tying flies and fly fishing since I was twelve years old. I first started fishing when I was three. My Grandfather, the late Lee Bushell introduced me to the sport of fly fishing and to fly tying as well and I've been addicted to it ever since. In 2004 I began my journey into the art of tying the Classic Salmon Fly and I've been a student to the art ever since. It's been a dream of mine to tie in shows all over the world and yesterday I received an invitation to tie that may be the start of having that dream fulfilled.
I've been invited to attend the ,Irish International Fly Fair
on June 29th, and 30th 2013 in Killyleagh, Northern Ireland, 20 miles south east of Belfast. The Tying event and casting demonstrations take place in the Killyleagh Castle.
I will be the only Canadian at the show and I will be representing not
only my home province of Nova Scotia, but my entire country. My wife and three kids are so excited to see me live out my dream of tying flies at a show overseas.
This is a huge honor but due to my current financial situation I can't afford the expense, so I need to
reach out to the fly tying and fishing community, family and friends and strangers alike in hopes of receiving
enough sponsorships and kind donations to make this dream of tying flies in
Ireland come true.
This is an amazing opportunity for me to share my love of fly tying with another part of the world. It has been a dream of mine to visit Ireland, I have family ties to Ireland and it's just an amazingly beautiful country and to be able to combine my love of the country and my love of fly tying and to be able to share it with the world would be an incredible thing for me to accomplish, and with your help I can make it a reality.
In response to donations that are made I want to be able to say thank you in some small way, so I've set some different levels as a way of offering thanks. By no means are these amounts the only amounts that are able to be donated, from $1.00, $5.00, to $10 or $20, whatever the amount is so much appreciated and will all contribute towards the final goal.
I will also be blogging here on this site with frequent updates, and as well on my facebook page and blog, so you can all follow the journey with me, and finally with the culmination of photos of my tying flies in Killyleagh and walking the castle grounds. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and for donating to my cause, your assistance is so much appreciated.
Sincerely, Damian Welsh
Atlantic Canadian Author & Fly Tyer
